Afghan warlord faces life in jail for terror campaign

AN Afghan warlord faces a life behind bars in a British jail after he was convicted yesterday at the Old Bailey of a “heinous” campaign of torture and hostage taking in his homeland.

Faryadi Sarwar Zardad pursued a merciless reign of terror in Afghanistan between 1992 and 1996.

The court heard evidence of summary execution, the slaughter of 10 or 11 men in a minibus, an old man being imprisoned in a metal cupboard and whipped with a bicycle cable and a seven-year-old witnessing his father's ear being cut off.

British Attorney General Lord Peter Goldsmith came to court to prosecute.

He explained it was believed "to be the first time in any country, in international law, and certainly in English law, where offences of torture and hostage taking have been prosecuted in circumstances such as this".

Many of Zardad's victims gave evidence from the British Embassy in Kabul via video link in two trials.

In the first, last year, a verdict was unable to be agreed upon and the prosecution decided he should be retried.

Yesterday the jury returned unanimous guilty verdicts after nearly seven hours of deliberation over two days. Zardad is due to be sentenced today. Each charge carries a maximum of life imprisonment.

The cost of the case is estimated to exceed £3 million (€4.35m).

Zardad had first been tracked down to his home in south London by John Simpson for BBC's Newsnight.

The programme was seen by a member of the Parliamentary Human Rights Committee and referred to the Home Office, who asked Anti Terrorist branch officers to investigate.

Zardad, 41, of Gleneagles Road, Streatham, London, had denied conspiracy to torture and conspiracy to take hostages.

Prosecutors said Zardad and his men pursued a culture of terror in the civilian population he controlled "part of which inevitably involved the crimes of hostage taking and torture".

Zardad was in charge of the road from Kabul to Jalabadad in the Sarobi area.

An Afghan said a man known as Zardad's dog had bitten a man at a checkpoint when he failed to distribute grapes to soldiers quickly enough.

One witness said he was held for months and was beaten so often his family failed to recognise him on his return.

Police believe the allegations were only the tip of the iceberg. Zardad may have been responsible for further torture and abuse, including rape.

The court was told Zardad fought both the Russians and the Taliban.

Zardad said that he had never tortured anyone and had given orders against torturers. Neither had he conspired to take hostages.

He had come to Britain in 1998 on a fake passport, started living on benefits and sought asylum.