Taliban militia seizes Christian group members

The Taliban militia swooped on more offices of a Christian aid group as US, Australian and German diplomats waited anxiously …

The Taliban militia swooped on more offices of a Christian aid group as US, Australian and German diplomats waited anxiously to visit foreigners detained under harsh Islamic laws.

Taliban soldiers have taken control of the provincial offices of Shelter Now as the Islamic militia widened its crackdown on the German-based relief agency, accused of being a front for Christian missionaries.

The group's office and a school were closed in Kabul on Sunday after 24 staff - two Americans, two Australians and four Germans, and the remainder Afghani - were arrested for allegedly preaching Christianity.

"The Muslim state of Afghanistan has no place for such organisations," said the Taliban Deputy Foreign Minister, Mr Abdul Rehman Zahid.

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A Taliban embassy spokesman in Pakistan, Mr Suhail Shaheen, said the eight foreign aid workers were "safe and in perfect health" and would face trial, but he could not explain the charges or the likely punishment.

"Their cases will be moved to the court once the investigations are completed and they will be given full opportunity for defence," he said.

"If charges of preaching Christianity are established they will be punished under the relevant laws... but it is really up to the court to decide."

Taliban religious police have not ruled out the death penalty, although a code of conduct for foreigners released in June allows for imprisonment of up to one month or expulsion.

Diplomats expressed frustration that requests for information and visas to visit the detainees had not been met before the Islamic weekend.

A US embassy spokesman said no visas were issued yesterday and, as today is a Muslim holiday in Kabul, the chances of diplomatic access to the aid workers in the short term were diminishing.

"We have still received no information that we view as authoritative from Taliban officials as to what these American women are charged with or what the penalties might be," he said in Islamabad, the closest US embassy to Kabul.

"We're having talks with the unofficial Taliban representatives in the United States and we just need to keep pushing as many different places as we can." Mr Zahid said the militia wanted the diplomats to see the evidence against the foreigners, including Bibles in Dari, the main language of Afghanistan, and thousands of computer disks on Christianity.

An Australian diplomatic envoy in Pakistan described the situation for the detainees as "very uncertain and confused".