Suspect in abduction of three UN workers dies in custody

A MAN suspected of involvement in the abduction of three UN workers in Afghanistan died in custody last week and authorities are investigating whether he was tortured to death, the Interior Ministry said yesterday.

The man named only as Kajkoal, a resident of the Paghman Valley near Kabul suspected of involvement in several past armed robberies, was arrested two days after the October 28 abduction of the workers, said ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal.

"He died in police custody on Monday," he said. "The Minister of the Interior has appointed a commission to investigate and find out what was behind his death - if he was beaten, or if there were some atrocities."

Mashal said Kajkoal had been suspected of involvement in the abduction of UN workers Annetta Flanigan from Co Armagh, Kosovan Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan.

The UN workers, who had been helping run presidential elections won by US-backed incumbent Hamid Karzai, were snatched from their car near their Kabul office and officials suspected they may have been taken to the Paghman Valley.

There has been confusion over who is holding the trio since the government said on Wednesday the ministry did not believe they were with a Taliban splinter group Jaish-e Muslimeen, which is demanding the freeing of Taliban prisoners in return for their release.