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French Journalist Freed by Taliban
TORKHAM, Pakistan, Nov 3 (News Agencies) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia on Saturday freed French journalist Michel Peyrard, who described his near month-long detention as "manageable" after some initial harsh treatment.
Peyrard, who was detained on October 9 with two Pakistani journalists, was greeted at the Torkham crossing point in northwest Pakistan by the French ambassador to Islamabad, Yannick Gerard, and Pakistani officials.
A stern Taliban warning to foreign reporters not to enter the country without papers accompanied his release.
Speaking to reporters in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, the Paris Match correspondent said he had been able to cope quite well with his time in Taliban custody, despite some early scares.
"The first day was pretty difficult, with some rough treatment," he said.
At the time of their arrest, Peyrard said one of the two Pakistani journalists was shoved and beaten.
All three were then paraded in public in the main market of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, where Arab
mujahedin (fighter) volunteers fighting alongside the Taliban had thrown stones and lashed out with rifle butts.
"But the Taliban intervened," Peyrard said, adding that the majority of onlookers had not reacted violently.
After that, "the conditions in detention were pretty much manageable," he said.
Peyrard, who able to interview several fellow detainees during his time in custody, said the number of political prisoners being rounded up the Taliban had increased significantly in the past few weeks.
"The main prison in Jalalabad is full. I think there are now around 400 prisoners, compared to 150 on September 11" - the date of the terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, he said.
Many, according to Peyrard, had supported the Taliban when they came to power in 1996 but were now suspected of plotting against the militia.
"Anyone suspected of putting forward a possible alternative [to the Taliban] has been rounded up and put in prison," he added.
Noor Hommad Halfi, a Taliban intelligence official who accompanied Peyrard to the border on Saturday, said the two Pakistani journalists may be released Sunday. The militia had said earlier that they planned to put the Frenchman on trial for espionage.
"I was worried about my two Pakistani friends but I am confident that they will be released tomorrow or the day after," Peyrard said.
The Taliban are also holding Japanese journalist Daigen Yanagida.
Mullah Tajmir, the head of Taliban intelligence in Jalalabad, where Peyrard and the Pakistanis were detained, warned all foreign journalists against entering Afghanistan, the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.
"We warn all journalists that they should not enter Afghanistan illegally because we have reports that U.S. and British intelligence agencies have been using all tactics to achieve their objectives and they are sending agents as journalists.
"If any journalist crossed into Afghanistan illegally, he will be suspected as a spy and there is a possibility that he may be tried on charges of spying," he said.
Tajmir was quoted as saying that the Taliban gave Peyrard "all facilities but on certain occasions he went on hunger strike".
The official said Peyrard's release had been ordered by Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar following requests by the French authorities and the journalist's family.
Peyrard, who had sneaked into Afghanistan wearing a burqa, the traditional garment worn by Afghan women in public that covers the body from head to toe, said the Taliban in Jalalabad seemed to be holding up in the face of the U.S.-led aerial strikes that began on October 7.
Despite some obvious fears during the initial days of the bombardment, the Taliban are now "totally calm," he said.
While many had expected heavy blanket bombing, the feeling was that, in the case of Jalalabad, the U.S. strikes had been "extremely limited," he added.
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