Peacekeepers seek explanation of alleged Afghan coup plot

The British-led UN peacekeeping force in Afghanistan has asked the country’s interim administration to explain the alleged coup plot which led to the arrest of hundreds of men in Kabul in the past week.

The peacekeepers, who are responsible for security in Kabul, said they were not informed in advance of the reasons for the arrest operation.

One Afghan official said the suspects "wanted to launch a coup d’etat".

Government officials said yesterday that many of the men were released without charge, but 160 people are still being held in connection with the alleged plot.

Most of those arrested were associated with the Hezb-e-Islami party, led by former Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, the main recipient of US aid during the Afghan-Russian war in the 1980s.

There are fears that the arrests could inflame ethnic tensions between Hekmatyar’s Pashtun followers and the minority Tajiks of the Northern Alliance, which dominates the interim government installed in Kabul by the UN last year.