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Family, Diplomats See Detained Christian Missionaries in Afghanistan
KABUL, Aug 27 (News Agencies) - Diplomats and relatives Monday visited aid workers detained in Taliban-ruled Afghanistan for the first time since their arrest more than three weeks ago for allegedly preaching Christianity.
The American, Australian and German envoys, along with parents of the two captive U.S. aid workers, saw the prisoners at a juvenile correction center in Kabul for about two hours, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) reporter said.
They had arrived in the Afghan capital on a special United Nations flight from neighboring Pakistan only hours before, having received visas and a promise from the Taliban that the visit would be allowed.
For the parents of the two young American women, the visit ended an agonizing wait to see their daughters and hear first-hand how they have been treated by the Islamic militia.
No details of the meeting have emerged, but a team from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) visited the detainees on Sunday and told the German government they were in "good health," as the Taliban had informed them beforehand.
John Mercer, father of detainee Heather Mercer, earlier told reporters in Pakistan he was "very happy" he would finally be allowed to see his daughter, having waited in Islamabad for days to get his visa.
The mother of Dana Curry, the other American detainee, said before the meeting that she was not even sure if her daughter had received letters from home.
"We had at some point given the Red Cross the letters, but whether some were transmitted I don't know," she said after her arrival in Kabul.
Taliban ambassador to Pakistan Abdul Salam Zaeef said the militia had finally decided to relax its ban on consular visits as investigations were nearing completion.
"As far as I know, the investigations are not completed yet. We hope they will be completed soon and the case will then be handed over to a Shari'ah court," he said.
Aside from the American women, the prisoners include Germans: George Taubmann, Silke Duerrkopf, Margrit Stebner and Kati Jelinek, and Australians: Diana Thomas and Peter Bunch.
The diplomats left Kabul empty-handed last Tuesday after spending a week trying to gain permission from the Taliban to see the prisoners.
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan stepped in earlier this month to urge the Taliban to follow international convention and allow diplomatic access.
"The last time when we issued the visas, they were meant only for discussions with the Taliban, but this time we have put no conditions on their visas," Zaeef said after issuing the travel documents.
The foreigners, and the 16 Afghans arrested with them, were staff of German-based aid group Shelter Now, whose operation in Afghanistan has since been closed.
The Taliban has said it is investigating all aid agencies in the deeply impoverished country to see whether Shelter Now was part of a broad plan to spread Christianity in the Muslim country.
The militia, which has been slapped with U.S.-sponsored United Nations sanctions for its alleged support of "terrorism", has refused to explain the charges against the foreigners or the likely punishment, although officials have said that Taliban law punishes foreigners accused of trying to convert Afghan Muslims away from Islam with a few day's imprisonment, followed by expulsion.
U.S. officials in Washington have said the militia would be held responsible for the welfare of the Americans.
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