(CPJ/IFEX) – In an 18 December 2000 letter to Mullah Mohammad Omar, Afghanistan’s supreme leader, CPJ expressed its deep concern about the safety of Abdul Saboor Salehzai, a translator for the BBC in Kabul who has been detained incommunicado since 16 December 2000. Foreign Ministry officials confirmed that Salehzai was arrested on 16 December, but […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In an 18 December 2000 letter to Mullah Mohammad Omar, Afghanistan’s supreme leader, CPJ expressed its deep concern about the safety of Abdul Saboor Salehzai, a translator for the BBC in Kabul who has been detained incommunicado since 16 December 2000.
Foreign Ministry officials confirmed that Salehzai was arrested on 16 December, but have not disclosed his whereabouts. “We asked the BBC to dismiss Salehzai several times because we believe he is a communist,” Mohammad Osman Sheryar, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, told reporters. “He will remain in detention until the BBC has removed him.”
In a statement issued today, the BBC said it could not comply with the Taliban’s request for Salehzai’s dismissal, and that his detention was “unacceptable.”
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the supreme leader:
– expressing the belief that governments should not dictate the staffing of news organisations
– urging him to order Salehzai’s immediate release, and allow him to continue his work at the BBC without further interference
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:His Excellency Mullah Mohammad Omar
Supreme Leader, Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
c/o The Honorable Abdul Hakeem Mujahid
Office of the Permanent Representative-Designate to the United Nations
55-16 Main Street – Suite 1D
Flushing, NY 11355
Fax: +1 718 661 2721Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
