Kidnap group split over fate of UN hostages

The purported leader of Taliban-linked militants holding three United Nations hostages, including Armagh woman Annetta Flanigan, said his group was split over whether they should “get rid” of the captives.

After a deadline set for reaching a deal for the hostages’ release passed last night, Jaish-al Muslimeen leader Mohammed Akbar Agha said the group would meet to decide their fate.

Earlier, Afghan officials said negotiations with the kidnappers had been postponed amid disagreements over ransom demands.

Annetta Flanigan, Philippine diplomat Angelito Nayan and Shqipe Hebibi of Kosovo were seized at gunpoint on October 28 – the first abduction of foreigners in the capital since the fall of the Taliban three years ago.

Jaish-al Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, has threatened to kill the trio unless 26 militant prisoners were released.

“There are some of our members who have hardline views on the issue but there are others who have moderate views,” Agha said in a telephone call from an undisclosed location.

“The hardliners say we should get rid of the hostages. The others say we have the ability to keep the hostages for two years.”

Jaish-al Muslimeen claims that the 26 men it wants freed are in US custody, but the American military says it will release no one and has received no list issued by the militants.

US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage also opposed any concessions on a visit to Kabul last week.

Despite the claims of the militants, who have already set a string of deadlines, it remains unclear how much control they have over the hostages.

Afghan officials and diplomats suspect that criminal groups or warlord militias may be involved, and say negotiations are being held with several different groups. Officials suggest the three may still be in the Kabul area.

Agha insisted his group was not seeking a ransom, and claimed Afghan authorities had concocted that allegation to save face because of their failure to resolve the crisis over the hostages, who had been in Afghanistan to help run the country’s landmark presidential elections on October 9.

“We will not hold more talks with the Afghan government,” he said.

He said an Afghan mediator contacted the group yesterday and conveyed a message that a London-based non-government organisation, which he did not identify, wanted to hold talks with them. Agha said the kidnappers would not hold talks “with the foreigners” but could communicate to them through the mediator.

The kidnappers released a video of the frightened-looking hostages three days after armed men forced them from their clearly-marked UN vehicle on a street in the capital.

A week ago, at least two of the hostages phoned home to say they were all right, but there has been no word on their condition since.

Negotiations between Afghan government officials and mediators in touch with the kidnappers were expected to resume today, after being suspended last week for an Islamic holiday.

An Afghan official said government representatives would meet middlemen to restart talks suspended for Eid al-Fitr, the three-day Islamic festival which ended in Afghanistan yesterday.

Ransom demands were the main sticking point, the official said.