Taliban commander contacts Kabul in bid to broker Turkish engineer's release

The Taliban commander who kidnapped a Turkish engineer in southwestern Afghanistan last week claimed that Afghan government officials had contacted him to broker an end to the kidnapping.

Abdul Waris Muslim told Gulf News on his satellite phone from 'somewhere in southwestern Afghanistan' that contact had been established between him and the Governor of Ghazni province Asadullah Wafa to discuss swapping the Turkish engineer Hasan Onal for Taliban fighters held by the Afghan government.

"We spoke on the phone and the governor's cousin met my men to talk about a deal on the issue. The talks are continuing," he said.

Earlier, Governor Wafa in an interview with the BBC radio said the government would not release the Taliban prisoners in exchange for the Turkish engineer. He said there couldn't be a deal with terrorists and kidnappers.

Reacting to the governor's statement, Taliban commander Muslim said the governor of Ghazni was lying. "On the one hand, the governor is talking to us and sending his emissaries to offer a swap for the Turkish engineer. But at the same time he is denying all this and labelling us as terrorists."

He claimed the governor had offered to release the Taliban prisoners in return for the kidnapped Turkish engineer. "In fact, the Governor and his men were discussing the possibility of delivering the Taliban prisoners and the Turkish engineer to UN officials or members of the loya jirga after their release. They asked about Taliban proposals for the expected swap of the Turkish engineer with Taliban prisoners," he added.

Taliban fighters kidnapped engineer Onal about 10 days ago while driving on the under-construction Kabul-Kandahar highway. The kidnapping took place in Ghazni province where Onal's Turkish construction firm, Gulsan-Cukurova, is building part of the road.

A US firm having contract for the construction of the 500-km highway has subcontracted work to the Turkish company. Onal's Afghan driver was freed by Taliban.