A group threatening to kill three kidnapped foreigners, including an Irish woman, working for the United Nations in Afghanistan has denied it has extended its deadline until Friday.
The Defence Ministry said today a deadline had been extended until Friday, but a spokesman for Jaish-e-Muslameen, the Taliban offshoot holding the three foreigners, said the report was a lie.
The spokesman said the three foreigners had been split up in case authorities attempted a rescue.
General Zahir Azimi, Afghan defence ministry spokesman
The three - Ms Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Filipino Mr Angelito Nayan and Mr Shqipe Hebibi from Kosovo - were snatched from their UN vehicle in Kabul rush hour traffic last Thursday by Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Army of Muslims).
The group has threatened to kill them unless all Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners are released from US custody by Wednesday.
Afghan authorities are investigating whether some government figures helped the group kidnap the foreigners. "The defence ministry is of the belief that without internal co-operation this work may have not been possible," General Zahir Azimi, the defence ministry's chief spokesman, said.
He refused to elaborate or say which government department or agency may have helped with the kidnapping. The Taliban regime was overthrown by a US-led coalition in late 2001.
The government has previously negotiated the release of several foreign nationals kidnapped by Taliban fugitives, apparently in return for ransom.
The three UN workers had been helping to organise Afghanistan's first presidential election, which was held on October 9th. The kidnappings have stoked fears among the 2,000-strong foreign community that militants in Afghanistan may be copying tactics used by insurgents in Iraq.
Seven Afghan suspects have been arrested in Kabul as a result of the investigation. Security sources said those arrested were not considered primary suspects.
The leader of the group, Mullah Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, said if the group's demands were not met, the hostages would be killed "in such a way by which Muslims will be happy".
The group has also demanded that the United Nations quit Afghanistan and condemned Britain and America's role as illegal.