Taliban leader orders hostage murder
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Monday, 13 March: 10.47 CET) – The spiritual leader of the Taliban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has ordered the murder of four foreign hostages seized in Afghanistan on Saturday, Al Jazeera reports.
Mullah Omar's execution order was read over the telephone to a Reuters reporter in the town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province, near the Pakistani border.
Taliban spokesperson Qari Mohammad Yousuf said the four hostages - three Albanians and a German national - were abducted by Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan.
According to Yousuf, Mullah Omar's order read: "These people had come to Afghanistan at America's behest. Therefore they should be sentenced to death."
Earlier, the militant spokesperson had claimed that four Albanians and four Afghans were being held by Taliban fighters.
Yousuf said that the men would be tried as spies by a Taliban court, Al Jazeera reports.
The trial will be the latest in a series since the Islamic movement began abducting foreign workers and accusing them of involvement in espionage activities. Several kidnapped foreign workers have been killed by the Taliban since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Authorities in Kandahar said that a man-hunt had been launched to find those responsible for the abduction. Officials did not know what the four men were doing in the southern province, Al Jazeera reports.
Mullah Omar's execution order was read over the telephone to a Reuters reporter in the town of Spin Boldak in Kandahar province, near the Pakistani border.
Taliban spokesperson Qari Mohammad Yousuf said the four hostages - three Albanians and a German national - were abducted by Taliban fighters in southern Afghanistan.
According to Yousuf, Mullah Omar's order read: "These people had come to Afghanistan at America's behest. Therefore they should be sentenced to death."
Earlier, the militant spokesperson had claimed that four Albanians and four Afghans were being held by Taliban fighters.
Yousuf said that the men would be tried as spies by a Taliban court, Al Jazeera reports.
The trial will be the latest in a series since the Islamic movement began abducting foreign workers and accusing them of involvement in espionage activities. Several kidnapped foreign workers have been killed by the Taliban since the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.
Authorities in Kandahar said that a man-hunt had been launched to find those responsible for the abduction. Officials did not know what the four men were doing in the southern province, Al Jazeera reports.
posted by Marko at 3/13/2006 07:19:00 AM
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