Stop targeting us, we will free aid workers: Taliban

By B. Muralidhar Reddy

ISLAMABAD, OCT. 6. Amidst reports that the Taliban has attempted to shoot down an unidentified spy plane over Kabul, the militia has offered to free the eight foreign aid workers who are under detention since August this year on charges of preaching Christianity.

(A PTI report today said U.S. F-18 fighter aircraft have begun sorties in the air corridors over Pakistan airspace. Air Force jets carried out surprise sorties on October 4 using the air corridor provided by Pakistan, creating ``panic'' in the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which has sent its own F-16 to provide security cover to Pakistan's ``vital'' installations, the Pakistan Observer said quoting official sources.)

The qualified offer on the aid workers along with the decision to release the British journalist detained for illegal entry into Afghanistan earlier this week came less than 24 hours after the British Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair, put the militia on notice to either surrender Osama bin Laden, alleged mastermind behind the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the U.S., or be prepared to face the consequences, including its overthrow.

It is not clear if the decision to free the British journalist and the offer to release the aid workers are the result of any behind-the-scene diplomatic activity or simply meant to send a signal to the international community that it is not as `inflexible' as the world thinks. A statement issued by the Taliban Foreign Ministry qualified its offer to release the foreign aid workers by saying that it could consider their release if the U.S. ``halts its massive propaganda campaign.''

Comparing the aid workers' situation with that of the Afghan people, it said the U.S., ``should issue a statement that the (Afghan) people will be safe and will not be the target of attack and that they can go back to their homes. ``If they stop issuing threats, we will take steps for the release of the eight foreigners,'' it said.

Scribe's release imminent

The Afghan Islamic Press, a Peshawar-based news agency, in a report said the militia's leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, had ordered the release of Ms. Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist arrested last month in Afghanistan. The agency said Ms. Ridley (43) would be released this weekend.

The Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman, Mr. Riaz Mohammad Khan, maintained that he was in no position to comment on the reports involving the British journalist and the aid workers.

In a related development, the Taliban has accused Mr. Tony Blair of pushing the U.S. to destroy the Taliban and said Pakistan hurt the leadership of the ruling Afghan militia. The President, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, had said in a recent interview that the days of Taliban appeared numbered.

Asking Mr. Blair to be aware of the aware of the consequences of war, the Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, Mullah Zaeef, told the media here last night that ``Blair encourages the Americans to go for war. Why Blair is trying such bad things? He should try for negotiations,`` Mr. Zaeef said.

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