Afghanistan: Three UN workers, including Armagh woman Ms Annetta Flanigan, held hostage by a Taliban splinter faction in Afghanistan are being well treated but suffering from winter cold and poor diet on the eve of fresh talks over their release, their kidnappers said yesterday.
The claim received support yesterday when a relative of one of three, Shqipe Hebibi, said she had telephoned a friend in her home town in Kosovo and said she is well and not being badly treated. She apparently spoke to a female friend in Pec who passed a message on to her brother.
"She said only a few words," the relative said. "She said: 'I feel very well, nobody has treated me badly and I hope to see you soon'."
The Jaish-e Muslimeen (Army of Muslims) said it held negotiations through intermediaries with UN and government officials at the weekend and demanded the release of 26 Taliban members, some of whom could be in US military custody.
The group said it had agreed to a government request for two days to locate the 26 and that a second round of talks would start today.
Mullah Sabir Momin, one of several men claiming to speak for the kidnappers, reiterated that the three hostages - Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan, Annetta Flanigan and Ms Hebibi - were suffering from the cold and poor diet.
However, he said: "We are treating them well, we have brought them bottled mineral water and good-quality biscuits." Mullah Momin said the kidnappers were also reassuring the three that they would be released and allowed to go home.
He said the group was willing to show that the hostages, who were snatched from their UN vehicle in Kabul on October 28th, were being treated well, via photographs, video tapes or telephone conversations, if the UN made a formal demand for such proof.
Last week, the kidnappers threatened to kill the hostages unless their demands were met, but several deadlines have passed and the threat has not been repeated.
A videotape broadcast by Arab television station al Jazeera on October 31st showed the distressed hostages answering questions from a captor whose face was hidden by a scarf. Jaish-e Muslimeen has said it was willing to "soften" other demands if their comrades were freed. -(Reuters)