Rights body condemns of arrest of journalist

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the recent arrest of a female journalist, and her two male guides in Taliban- controlled Afghanistan. “We strongly urge Taliban authorities to release Yvonne Ridley and her two colleagues immediately,” the CPJ executive director, Ann Cooper, said in a statement sent to IRIN on Tuesday.

Ridley, who works for the UK-based ‘Sunday Express’ newspaper, was arrested on 28 September near the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, reportedly on suspicion of spying, a claim which has been described as “absurd” by her employers. Taliban officials also claim she had entered the country without a passport and visa, according to the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP), a news agency based in neighbouring Pakistan that is said to have close links with the Taliban.

‘Sunday Express’ officials are reported to have said that Ridley applied for a visa to travel to Afghanistan several times, but without success. The Taliban has stopped most foreign journalists from entering the country following the threat of US strikes on Afghanistan in retaliation for the 11 September terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, and as part of the “war against terrorism”.

The US says that Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden, who is said to be in hiding in Afghanistan, as a guest of the Taliban, is the prime suspect for the attacks.

Cooper said the arrest was just another sign of how the Taliban regime was restricting information on the situation there. “Journalists play a crucial role in informing the international community about conditions in Afghanistan,” she said.

The Taliban has confirmed that it is holding Ridley for investigation, and say she is being treated well, the AIP reported. However, the CPJ has expressed concern over conflicting reports and the lack of information about her situation. Red Cross officials have visited Ridley and have said that she seems to be in good condition. The charge of spying in Taliban-controlled areas carries the death sentence.