Excerpt: Lawyer for Detained Aid Workers in Afghanistan Goes to Kabul
(State's Boucher says detainees separate issue from other concerns) (1210) State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the status of the detained foreign aid workers in Afghanistan is "a completely separate matter" and the detainees need to be released right away, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington September 28. Boucher said that the detainees' Pakistani lawyer has gone to Kabul and plans to meet Taliban officials September 29. The parents of the detained American aid workers are in Islamabad, and the U.S. embassy there is in close touch with them, the spokesman added. He said U.S. diplomats are in frequent contact with the Taliban representatives in Islamabad to express its concern about the welfare of the detainees. Boucher repeated the U.S. demand that the Taliban expell Usama bin Laden to a country where he can be brought to justice. "[T]he Taliban need to do what the president told them to do, asked them to do, last Thursday night in his speech. And if they don't do that, they're going to suffer the same fate," Boucher said. The spokesman said the United States is preparing another contribution of humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people through the United Nations. He said the announcement of the new aid would probably come next week. Following are excerpts from Boucher's September 28 media briefing containing his comments about the Afghanistan: (begin excerpt) Q: It concerns Afghanistan. MR. BOUCHER: Please. Q: Will the detainees be a factor in this government's planning for any other measures that may be in store for Afghanistan? MR. BOUCHER: We consider the status of the detainees to be a completely separate matter from what's going on, and we believe that they need to be released right away, which is what the president said last week. Q: So they will not be a factor? MR. BOUCHER: I just stated what I -- our position on them. (American detained in Afghanistan) Q: How about the detainees in Afghanistan? MR. BOUCHER: The people in Afghanistan. There's not a whole lot of news there, but let me tell you what there is. The Pakistani lawyer who was selected by the detainees has entered Afghanistan. He's on his route to Kabul. We understand he has a meeting with Taliban officials Saturday morning, tomorrow morning, at 10:00. The lawyer has told the consuls for the Americans, for the Germans and the Australians who are in detention that he hoped to see them on Saturday. He's planning on taking a package of food and medicine and letters and personal items for the detainees. That package has been put together by their parents. He will also keep family members and the U.S. embassy in Islamabad informed of the progress of the case. The parents are -- of the American detainees are currently in Islamabad, and we -- our embassy there remains in very close touch with them. This is a Friday, a holiday for the Taliban, so U.S. embassy officials had no contacts with the Taliban representatives today about the welfare and the status of the Americans. But we've been in frequent contact with their officials in Islamabad to express our concern about these people and our concern about their welfare. .... Q: Well, yeah. I do. Is it still your understanding that the trial is going to resume tomorrow, or is this what -- MR. BOUCHER: We don't know for sure. The lawyer has told us that if the trial resumes, then he'll stay in Kabul. If not, if there are further delays, he'll go back to Pakistan. So at this point we really don't know for sure if it's going to resume right away or not. Q: And well, is he going -- is the lawyer going for something special? I mean, is there some kind -- MR. BOUCHER: He's going to see the detainees. Q: So there isn't -- MR. BOUCHER: He's going to see his clients, you might say, and I guess he's there at this moment. If the trial starts, he'll be there for the trial. Q: So you're not aware that he's going for any specific proceeding? MR. BOUCHER: We don't know of any particular proceeding. He wasn't able to pin that down before he left. Okay. Q: Was he told explicitly that he would be able to see the detainees? MR. BOUCHER: No. He was told that he would have a meeting with the Taliban, Saturday at 10:00 a.m. That's what he knows at this point -- what we know from him at this point. Mark? Q: Richard, do you consider the detainees to be human shields? MR. BOUCHER: We consider them to be Americans who are detained, and we're concerned about their welfare. (Taliban and bin Landen) Q: Same subject. Has the U.S. government received a fresh rejection, as is being reported on one cable network, from the Taliban so far as releasing Osama bin Laden? I mean, it's a standing request, of course, but there was a report a while ago that they said no again. MR. BOUCHER: There haven't been any particular contacts with the United States. We haven't had any direct discussions with them. I don't know if it's in relation to the Pakistani -- there was a group of Pakistani clerics and government people, I think, who were going. We're aware of that trip. Nobody's carrying any message on our behalf. But clearly we would expect them to express the view to the Taliban -- the view that's shared by the United States and Pakistan -- that the Taliban need to do what the president told them to do, asked them to do, last Thursday night in his speech. And if they don't do that, they're going to suffer the same fate. Q: Richard, has the time for diplomacy, as far as the U.S. is concerned, with the Taliban -- has the time for diplomacy run out? MR. BOUCHER: I'm not going to try to make statements like that. I'm not offering any sense of timing of other measures. .... Q: Richard, do you know anything about any conclusions from the meeting yesterday in Berlin? I think when you spoke yesterday, it was still going on. MR. BOUCHER: Yeah. I don't think we expected to have any particular conclusions. There was, as you know, an appeal from the United Nations to help the refugees and the people of Afghanistan. We have been working on that for a great -- long period of time. We attended the meeting. I think we, and many others, expressed our intention to work with the United Nations and to bring these preparations we've made into fruition so that we can adequately take care of the people. There was no new pledge announced there, but we would expect to be able to describe an initial contribution probably next week when we talk again in Geneva. Q: Did you discuss a possible reconstruction of the country after the Taliban perhaps would leave? MR. BOUCHER: We talked about the humanitarian situation with regard to refugees. That was the subject of the conference. Q: But reconstruction did not come up? MR. BOUCHER: I have no idea if, you know, words like that came up or not. But the subject of the conference was to talk about humanitarian assistance to the people of Afghanistan. (end excerpt) (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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