UN hostages: Leave, or else...
2004-10-31 11:19
Kabul - Militants holding three UN hostages on Sunday set a three-day deadline for foreign troops to leave Afghanistan, saying they will kill the hostages otherwise.
The hostages' governments will "witness the death of their nationals in three days" unless several demands are met, said Mullah Mohammad Ishaq, spokesperson for the Jaishul Muslimeen, a breakaway Taliban group.
The demands are the departure of foreign troops and the United Nations, condemnation by the Philippines and the UN of "the invasion of Afghanistan by foreign forces" and the release of Afghans from foreign prisons, he said.
British-Irish woman Annetta Flanigan, Kosovo woman Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan were snatched at gunpoint from their vehicle in Kabul last Thursday.
- AFP