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Mother hopes to attend trial 'If I'm allowed, I will' By Charlie Gillis, National Post
From http://www.shelter-germany.de/englische%20Version/AKTUELL%20mittwoch_10%20NATIONAL%20POST.htm October 10, 2001 The mother of a U.S. aid worker detained in Afghanistan still plans to visit her daughter, despite the start of U.S.-led air strikes and the potential danger of recriminations should she enter the country. "If I am allowed [by the Taleban] to go and feel like it would be safe, I will," said Nancy Cassell in an interview from Islamabad. "The way I see it, we aren't going to get a visa unless the [Afghan] foreign ministry wants us to have one. "I think if they give us a visa, they'll look out for us." Ms. Cassell arrived in Pakistan last week in hopes of persuading Taleban officials to let her visit, and witness the trial of, her daughter, 29-year-old Dayna Curry. Ms. Curry is one of eight foreign aid workers arrested Aug. 3 on charges of Christian proselytizing -- an offence for which the strictly Islamic regime has killed Afghan nationals. Also in detention is Heather Mercer, 24, whose father, John Mercer, and mother, Deborah Oddy, joined Ms. Cassell in her trip to Pakistan. The pair are being held at a minimum-security facility in Kabul, along with four Germans and two Australians who worked with a German-based, Christian-led agency called Shelter Now. All were accused in a case that garnered international attention before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. The group had been performing humanitarian work when Taleban authorities seized books and videotapes alleged to contain Christian material from among its supplies. Ms. Cassell, Mr. Mercer and Ms. Oddy had gone to Kabul to follow the trial in late August, but were ordered to leave after the Sept. 11 attacks. They have since been applying for visas through the Afghan embassy in Islamabad, one of the last remaining diplomatic links between Afghanistan and the outside world. Yesterday, Ms. Cassell expressed relief at news the detainees were safe after the missile strikes, which hammered military and strategic targets around Kabul, among other cities, on Sunday and Monday. The families have since received reports from a liaison who visits the Westerners regularly indicating they were unaffected by the attacks. "I didn't think our own air strikes would bother them," said Ms. Cassell. "I just didn't know if there would be backlash or something like that." She does not, however, have the same fears for her own safety and security, dismissing suggestions Mr. Mercer should make the trip alone. The U.S. State Department and other experts on security in Afghanistan have suggested extremists or brigands might target Westerners -- especially women -- if they entered Taleban-controlled territory. But Ms. Cassell pointed to news that British journalist Yvonne Ridley had been set free after sneaking into the country by donning a burqa, the body-covering garb Taleban authorities require Afghan women to wear in public. "Some of the Afghan men there have made a point of telling us they're not about killing men and women and children. For all I know, the women have a better chance of being safe." Whatever the risk, it may soon be too late for the families to provide moral support through the court proceedings. While the trial was put on hold with the beginning of bombing, the Pakistani lawyer representing the detainees, Atif Ali Khan, is expected to submit his response to the charges today. A finding and sentence will be expected soon after he does so.<;/font> Mr. Khan has held out hope the Taleban judges will pass a light sentence, if they find the workers guilty at all. "In this matter, compassion will play a very big part," he told CNN. "Hopefully, they will get a small sentence, if any." |
