(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 14 September 1998 letter, CPJ expressed outrage at the murder of Mahmoud Saremi, Afghanistan bureau chief for the official Iranian news agency, IRNA. Saremi, along with 10 Iranian diplomats, was first reported missing on 8 August, when Taliban fighters secured the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. For over a month, Taliban officials […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – In a 14 September 1998 letter, CPJ expressed outrage at the
murder of Mahmoud Saremi, Afghanistan bureau chief for the official
Iranian news agency, IRNA. Saremi, along with 10 Iranian diplomats, was
first reported missing on 8 August, when Taliban fighters secured the
northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. For over a month, Taliban officials
repeatedly denied any knowledge of the condition of the Iranians, and
refused to take responsibility for their safety. Finally, on 10
September, Taliban spokesman Wakil Ahmad Mutawakkil admitted that nine of
the Iranians had been found dead at a site near Mazar-i-Sharif, under
Taliban control. IRNA reported the next day that Saremi’s body was among
those recovered.
**Further details to IFEX alert of 11 September 1998; for background, see
IFEX alert of 11 August**
Although there have been reports that the Taliban leadership ordered the
capture of the consulate where Saremi and his compatriots were based,
Taliban officials insist that the assassinations were carried out by
forces acting without orders.
CPJ notes that it sent a letter to His Excellency Mullah Mohammad Omar on
10 August urging an immediate investigation into Saremi’s disappearance.
CPJ received no reply. CPJ awaits the findings to be released this week
by a commission that was reportedly set up by the Taliban to investigate
this case.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to His Excellency Mullah Mohammad Omar:
for journalists working in Afghanistan
journalists and diplomats within Afghanistan’s borders, to undertake a
credible investigation of the killing of Saremi and the Iranian diplomats
as soon as possible, and to make the results of that investigation public
Appeals To
His Excellency Mullah Mohammad Omar
c/o The Honorable Abdul Hakim Mujahid
Embassy of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan
Islamabad, Pakistan
Fax: +92 51 824 504
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
