Posted on 09/27/2001 5:45:12 AM PDT by JohnHuang2
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - The trial of eight foreign aid workers charged with preaching Christianity in Afghanistan is expected to resume Saturday, diplomats and their lawyer said Thursday.
The trial of the two Americans, four Germans and two Australians began last month. It was suspended following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States and U.S. demands to Afghanistan's Taliban rulers that they hand over Osama bin Laden, the top suspect in the attacks.
Taliban Foreign Ministry official Abdur Afghani told Australian diplomats in Islamabad, Pakistan's capital, that ministry officials visited the aid workers on Tuesday and that they were in good condition, foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie McDonald said in Canberra, Australia.
Officials also advised that the trial ``would definitely proceed'' on Saturday, she said. A U.S. Embassy official in Islamabad also indicated the trial would resume then.
The aid workers' Pakistani lawyer, Asif Ali, said he would leave for Kabul on Friday for the session. He is an expert in Islamic law, but said that at 26, this was his first major case.
``I'll do my best to defend the accused,'' he told The Associated Press, adding that he had not yet received any documents relating to the charges against the workers.
The foreign aid workers are employed by German-based Shelter Now International, a Christian aid organization. They were arrested early last month, along with 16 Afghan workers, on proselytizing charges.
Fears for their safety have increased amid the rising tensions between the West and Afghanistan after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. President Bush has demanded that the Taliban free the aid workers, as well as hand over bin Laden and his lieutenants and allow U.S. access to bin Laden's bases, or else Afghanistan's rulers would face American military action.
Note to Taliban: We are angry with you. How angry, you will soon learn, to your sorrow. And hurting people whose only crime was to speak of their beliefs to the victims of your tyranny won't make us like you any better.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
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