Lawyer to present aid workers' case

The lawyer representing the eight foreign aid workers on trial in the Afghan capital, Kabul, for preaching Christianity returned to Afghanistan on Wednesday to present his clients' case.

"He crossed the Torkham [Tawr Kham] border at 0800 this morning and will be meeting with the aid workers today and present their case, hopefully, tomorrow," Fazal Hussain, the father of the lawyer, Atif Ali Khan, told IRIN on Wednesday.

The defendants - four Germans, two Australians and two Americans - are being detained at an undisclosed location in Kabul. They have been held by the Taliban since early August. The Taliban said on Sunday that they would be released if the US stopped threatening military action. The air strikes against locations in Afghanistan started that evening.

The aid workers are said to be safe but scared, the lawyer told reporters on Tuesday. Khan made his first journey with his assistant to see the aid workers in Afghanistan some 10 days ago.

Diplomats representing the respective countries of the detainees have expressed concern over the safety of the foreigners.

"We are concerned about their safety, but we cannot change the situation," diplomat at the German embassy in Islamabad, Helmut Landes, told IRIN.

He said he had been in contact with Kabul on Tuesday, and to his knowledge they were still being held at what was described as a safe place.

Four UN mine-action staff members were killed when a missile or bomb struck their office in Kabul on Monday evening during the second wave of the US-led strikes, increasing concern for the safety of the detainees.

The aid workers made their first court appearance on 8 September, when they were told by the Taliban chief justice that the investigation into their activities was still proceeding. The eight, who were working for the German-based relief agency Shelter Now International, along with 16 Afghan nationals, were arrested between 3 and 5 August for proselytising, a charge punishable by death under the Taliban's strict interpretation of Shari'ah law.

Meanwhile, British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, released on Tuesday after being held by the Taliban for 11 days, said she was desperate to get home and see her daughter. Ridley, who works for the London-based 'Sunday Express' newspaper entered eastern Afghanistan from Pakistan without a visa wearing a burka - a cloak worn by Muslim women covering them from head to toe.

Ridley was in Afghanistan during the start of the US-led strikes. She could have been put on trial for entering the country illegally, but was released following negotiations with the Taliban and Pakistani officials.