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Afghan women call for release of kidnapped American

Hundreds of Afghan women, many wearing burqas, prayed at a rare mass protest in southern Afghanistan, calling on authorities to find a kidnapped US aid worker and urging her captors to release her.

Officials said they still have not identified any suspects in the kidnapping of Cyd Mizell and her Afghan driver, Abdul Hadi. Gunmen abducted the two on Saturday in a residential neighborhood of the city of Kandahar.

The demonstration by about 500 Afghan women in the conservative province of Kandahar was a rare display of women's wishes. The 90-minute meeting was filled with prayers and speeches calling on government leaders to act.

Rona Tareen, director of the Kandahar Women's Association, urged Mizell's captives to free her immediately, saying she had helped Kandahar's women with small business projects.

"She was here helping the woman in Kandahar. She was trying to get their embroidery outside of the country," Tareen told the 500 to 600 women who gathered in a Kandahar wedding hall. The crowd estimate came from participants in the rally and an Associated Press journalist.

"Her kidnapping is against our culture and tradition," Tareen said. "We demand that the kidnappers free her immediately."

Another woman, Bibi Nanai, said she received permission from her husband to join the protest.

"I came from my home to show my support," Nanai said. "We are very upset."

Kandahar Governor Asadullah Khalid said on Tuesday there were still no suspects in the case and authorities were searching for clues.

No one has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid reiterated on Tuesday that he could neither confirm nor deny that Taliban militants had taken the American woman and her driver.

Mizell, who was wearing a burqa when she was taken, works on aid projects for the Asian Rural Life Development Foundation.

Jeff Palmer, the director of Mizell's organization, said the kidnappers had still not contacted any officials.

Mizell, who taught English at Kandahar University and gave embroidery lessons at a girls' school, speaks the local Pashtu language well, colleagues said.

She has worked for the foundation in Kandahar for the last three years, Palmer said.
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