Warning: Undefined array key "rbname" in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 14
Hello !

Afghanistan

Talibs say journalist handed to Afghan elders

2007-03-19

Afghanistan’s Taliban said Sunday it had handed an Italian journalist whom it captured two weeks ago and threatened to kill to tribal elders pending a final deal for his release. A senior Afghan intelligence official said on condition of anonymity that the government had agreed to free two Taliban in exchange for correspondent Daniele Mastrogiacomo but the negotiations were not over. In Rome Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi said authorities had been “working since dawn” to secure the release of Mastrogiacomo, 52, captured March 4 with two Afghan colleagues in the province of Helmand, a Taliban stronghold. The Taliban had set a deadline of Monday evening. A Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, said Mastrogiacomo and his Afghan translator were handed to the elders in Helmand after authorities agreed to free a one-time Taliban spokesman and an information chief. But the Taliban also wanted back a third man another former spokesman, Mohammad Hanif, arrested in October in Afghanistan. “If Hanif is not released, we’ll take back the journalists... Once Hanif is released, the elders can take the Italian anywhere he wishes to go we’ll let him go,” he said. The intelligence official said that ex-Taliban spokesman Latif Hakimi and information chief Ustad Yasar had been moved from Kabul to the Helmand capital, Lashkar Gah, for a likely exchange. “Right now they’re negotiating a mechanism for the exchange,” he said. The Helmand security chief, Isau Khan, said the Italian was expected to be freed in days. “I’m aware that he was supposed to be freed within one or two days. But I’m not aware at this point if he has been freed. The negotiations have been very successful,” he said. Presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi would not confirm any exchange of captives was planned but said from Germany, where he was with President Hamid Karzai: “The government will use any possible means to secure his release.” The Italian prime minister spoke with Karzai Sunday about the kidnapping, Italy’s ANSA news agency reported. “There is little that can be done today,” Prodi told reporters later. “We have been working since dawn, and we are continuing now.” UPDATE: Kabul, 19 March. (AKI) - Kidnapped Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo was set free Monday by his Taliban captors after being held hostage for 15 days, the Italian government confirmed on Monday. Mastrogiacomo, who works for the Rome daily La Repubblica was seized on 5 March by Taliban fighters while on a reporting trip in the restive province of Helmand. He is currently at the hospital in Lashkar Gah of the aid group Emergency, which helped negotiate his release, and is in a good condition. Mastrogiacomo's interpreter is also reported to be safe. His driver was killed by the Taliban last week. Now, the bad news Sources privy to the clandestine deal told Pajhwok Afghan News the hostage had been handed over to the Italian officials in the Hazarjuft district. Confirming the release of the Italian journalist, Taliban commander Mullah Dadullah said the hostage was set free in exchange for the release of five Taliban prisoners. He said the Taliban leaders released in exchange for the Italian journalist included Ustad Yasir, Mufti Latifullah Hakimi (former Taliban spokesman), Mansoor Ahmad (Dadullah's brother) and two commanders Hamdullah and Abdul Ghaffar. Just great.

Link

Afghanistan

Afghanistan 'holds Pakistani spy'

2006-12-20

HT Ace of Spades and originally caught via Political Pit Bull Afghanistan says it has arrested a Pakistani intelligence agent who acted as a key link with al-Qaeda leaders. WTF? Perv said "no way!" "No, no, certainly not!" Presidential spokesman Karim Rahimi said the agent had been detained in eastern Kunar province carrying documents which proved his guilt. Extract all information, then apply a 3/8" Craftsman Cordless drill to his skull. Return him to the ISI as a drooling fool (their usual assistants) Better to return him with a GPS locator in his head. And besides, the Craftsman Cordless doesn't have enough torque. The news came a day after intelligence officials said an Afghan general had been arrested for spying for Pakistan. Afghanistan has long blamed Pakistan for cross-border attacks by the Taleban. Islamabad denies the charges. "Lies! All lies!" Mr Karimi named the man arrested as Sayed Akbar, who he said worked for Pakistan's controversial Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency. "Some evidence and documents have been seized with him proving his destructive activities in Afghanistan," Mr Karimi told a news conference in the capital, Kabul. "his multiple false passports, above and beyond those normally carried by Pak 'tourists'" ... plus the dozen cell phones and three dozen garage door openers ... Sayed Akbar comes from the Chitral region of northern Pakistan bordering the Afghan province of Nuristan, the spokesman said. There's a lot of Pakistan that borders Afghanistan, and most of that's filled with rubes, jihadis and tenth-century no-accounts ... The BBC's Payenda Sargand in Kabul says, according to the Afghan authorities, Mr Akbar was in charge of relations between the ISI and al-Qaeda leaders. Officials say he has confessed to his "illegal activities" in Afghanistan. These are said to include escorting Osama Bin Laden last year from Nuristan to Chitral. the big man hissownself? That'll cause a crimp in Perv's lie train... On Monday, intelligence officials in Kabul said they had arrested an Afghan army general, Khair Mohammed, on charges of selling secrets to the ISI. kill him But first, a little momba ... Mr Rahimi told the news conference: "National security officials arrested a defence ministry general committing national treason, spying for foreigners, and he is under investigation." Correspondents say it is not clear if the two arrests are linked. The defence ministry issued a statement saying that Khair Mohammed had not worked for it for almost four years. There has so far been no response from Pakistan to news of either arrest. Relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan have been tense for years, but have worsened during 2006 as violence in Afghanistan has soared. Last week, President Hamid Karzai publicly accused the Pakistani government of backing the Taleban and said it wanted to turn Afghans into "slaves". Just want to return to the tenth century but that's close enough ... Afghanistan says Taleban leaders plot most some of their attacks on Afghan targets from Pakistani soil. Pakistan was once the Taleban's main sponsor, but after the September 2001 attacks in the United States Islamabad joined the US-led "war on terror". The Pakistani government denies it continues to support the militants or that it could do more to stop them crossing the porous border, and points to the deaths of hundreds of Pakistani troops fighting pro-Taleban militants in the country's tribal areas.

Link

Warning: Undefined property: stdClass::$T in /data/rantburg.com/www/pgrecentorg.php on line 132
-2 More