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Kabul Allows Red Cross to Meet Christian Missionaries
KABUL, 25 August (IslamOnline & News Agencies)- Afghan Foreign Minister Wakil Ahmed Mutawakel agreed Saturday to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to meet eight
missionaries held in Kabul for converting Afghan Muslims to Christianity, an ICRC spokesman said.
Western news agencies reported Saturday that an ICRC team received consent from Afghanistan's ruling Taliban during a meeting with Mutawakel in Kandahar, the southern headquarters of Taliban, said spokesman Mario Musa.
"We met and saw Mutawakel in Kandahar, our representatives there went and saw, and indeed he gave this kind of agreement," he said.
But Mutawakel also said that there were still modalities to be discussed with the authorities in Kabul to clear the way for a meeting with the missionaries, he added.
The talks could not take place in Kabul Saturday because of scheduling snags and the two sides are likely to meet early Sunday, he added.
Since their arrest between August 3rd and 5th, only Taliban officials have been allowed to visit the foreigners.
Diplomats from the three countries have been refused consular visits while investigations continue, but the Taliban has said the detainees are in good health and being well cared for.
The detainees are expected to face trial under the Taliban's interpretation of Islamic law, which demands that anyone found guilty of trying to convert Afghans away from Islam be punished - for foreigners, by a few day's imprisonment followed by expulsion, and for Afghans, the death penalty.
The Taliban considers the propagation of faiths other than Islam a serious violation of the religious integrity of Afghanistan.
Missionary movements often aim to "take the whole Bible to the whole world." Many missionaries are chosen because they have "a vision" to preach Christianity to the world and are often willing to work in disaster areas where foreign populations are more amenable to proselytizing.
Meanwhile, parents of the two detained Americans have traveled to Pakistan, appealing to the Taliban to be granted visas to visit their children.
The Americans, identified as Dana Curry and Heather Mercer, were among 24 Christian aid workers and staff members of the German-based Shelter Now group arrested early this month.
The other detainees include 16 Afghans, four Germans and two Australians. All Shelter Now offices in Afghanistan have since been closed.
The Web site of Shelter Now acknowledged, however, that an important source of support for the group are the many churches that undergird its work.
"From time to time, church volunteers are enlisted for short term projects at the headquarters or in one of the fields overseas. Churches also support by contributing towards individual team members support while they are in the field," the site said.
In Kabul, Taliban ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef said the Americans' parents would receive visas but there would be unspecified "limitations".
"I talked in this regard with my authorities this morning. God willing, there will be no problem in this regard and visas will be issued, but there will be some limitations," Zaeef said, without elaborating.
Zaeef said Pakistan-based diplomats representing the foreigners would be allowed to return to Kabul, but reiterated that consular visits were forbidden while investigations were underway.
"If they want to come for negotiation, then we will contact the authorities and I think there would be no problem, but if they want to see the detainees then they should wait," he said.
The U.N. has imposed tough sanctions on the Taliban for its alleged support of so called "terrorism" and its refusal to hand over Osama bin Laden, who is wanted in Washington for allegedly masterminding the bombings of two American embassies in 1998.
The Taliban seized Kabul in 1996, and currently control about 95 percent of the country.
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