Posted on 12/25/2007 1:40:58 AM PST by HAL9000
via translation -
Afghanistan: The two arrested were British Europeans
KABUL - Two Europeans were arrested in Afghanistan after being accused of posing a threat to national security are British nationals, said Tuesday an official who requested anonymity.
"They were British and were arrested five days ago," he told AFP.
When questioned, a spokesman for the British Embassy in Kabul was unable to comment on this information.
The arrest for threat to the national security of two Afghan Europeans "high-ranking" was previously announced unspecified government source on the nationality of the two men. They should be expelled from the country.
The spokesman for President Hamid Karzai, Homayun Hamidzada, said that these "two foreign official (have) been arrested recently because they were threatening the security of Afghanistan, during his weekly press conference.
A senior government official who requested anonymity stated that the two Europeans "senior" had "with the support of their Afghan colleagues, acted inconsistently with their duties and were a threat to national security in Afghanistan ".
"They will be expelled and their Afghan colleagues will be tried in accordance with the legal procedures" in force in the country, he added.
Questioned, the Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed the arrests, but did not comment.
The European embassies and the United Nations have also stated that it had not yet been informed of this case.
Thousands of Europeans work in Afghanistan, either as part of NATO or government institutions as consultants, not counting those who are among the dozens of NGOs in the country.
The investments made to develop the country devastated by more than 30 years of war and power of the Taliban between 1996 and 2001 are considerably slowed because of the bloody insurgency launched by the Islamists since their ouster by an international coalition.
The "threats to national security" generally involve activities related to the insurgents and the authorities frequently announce the arrest of Pakistanis, Chechens or Ouzbèks.
But accusations against Westerners are rare.
An American soldier Jack Idema, had been imprisoned in Afghanistan in 2004 and released in June for having kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured eight Afghans.
He said the court be a secret agent assigned by the Pentagon to pursue terrorists after Sept. 11, 2001, the date of his arrival in this country.
In December 2006, a Friend of the Commander-in-Chief of NATO troops in Afghanistan had been arrested for spying on behalf of "the enemy", apparently Iran. The accused, a Briton of Iranian origin, Daniel James, itself innocent and should be judged on February 5.
” acted inconsistently with their duties and were a threat to national security in Afghanistan “. “
This cryptic little statement is as close as the whole article comes to actually saying what the two Brits in question were actually arrested for doing...
Maddening..... (but typical AFP, don’tcha think?)
It could be anything. Maybe they named a teddy bear ‘Muhammad’. Or maybe a couple of BBC reporters got caught trying to smuggle heroin back to England.
i doubt the media would engage in narcotics traffiking...
Afghan govt asks U.N. official to leave the country
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
KABUL, Afghanistan - The United Nations mission in Afghanistan says the Afghan government has asked a UN official to leave the country because he was "detrimental" to Afghanistan's national security.
Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the mission, said the UN employee had travelled to the volatile southern province of Helmand on Monday along with a member of the European Commission.
Other officials said the government has asked a UN employee and a European Commission employee to leave Afghanistan.
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