Kabul - A Taliban judge who convicted the murderers of a UN peacekeeper has asked the dead man's family to send a male relative to cut off the killers' heads. His request has appalled and dismayed the family. Lieut Col Carmine Calo, from Naples, died in August in a machinegun attack in Kabul. The UN-marked vehicle was ambushed on the day after a US attack on bases in Afghanistan. Lieut Col Calo's widow, Maria Pepe, said: "I'd like to see the two of them dead but I wouldn't have the courage to give the order to take their lives."
However, the choice is between a pardon and decapitation. There is no middle way.