Taliban alleges Americans arrested in Afghanistan

The Taliban claim to have arrested some Americans in Afghanistan.

The claim comes from the Taliban ambassador to Pakistan.

He was unable to offer any details or evidence despite repeated questioning by reporters.

"There have been arrests, but I don't know how many were taken, or where," Taliban envoy Abdul Salam Zaeef told reporters.

Zaeef was answering questions on reports in Pakistan media that one or more Americans had been arrested in Afghanistan.

Newspaper reports also have quoted unidentified sources as saying one or more Americans were with Afghan opposition leader Abdul Haq when he was captured and executed last week.

Haq was widely believed to have been on a mission to rally opposition to the Taliban among Pashtun tribal leaders and Taliban figures.

Asked about that report as well, Zaeef said he believed "one or two individuals were with him, but whether they were arrested or not, I don't know."

The Taliban have claimed before to have arrested or killed Americans on covert operations in Afghanistan, without producing any evidence.

US officials say they knew of Haq's mission, but neither endorsed or supported it. Washington has confirmed it ordered airstrikes to try to save Haq, too late.

In Peshawar, Pakistan, Haq's family Taliban forces surrounded him and his entourage in a canyon south of Kabul. As Haq realized Taliban forces had him surrounded him, he telephoned the Taliban to say "we are not here for fighting, let's talk,'" according to his brother Hajji din Mohammed.

One of the two emissaries who came in response spoke none of the local languages, din Mohammed said. Din Mohammed refused to say whether Haq's friends believed the man to have been Arab, possibly with Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network.

Haq was hanged at the Rishkore barracks near Kabul on Friday.

The Taliban gave permission for the family to take the body to Pakistan for burial. However, Taliban officials abruptly changed their mind and ordered family emissaries to bury him in Afghanistan, din Mohammed said.

The Taliban allowed no time for final rituals, or even prayer, the brother said.

Din Mohammed provided scant details of condition of Haq's body, only that the face seemed uninjured and there were wounds on his face and hands. Previous reports have said the opposition figure was hanged, shot or tortured, or all three.