Former Taliban Ambassador in U.S. Custody

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 07, 2002

Former Taliban Ambassador in U.S. Custody

The Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, was in U.S. custody Sunday aboard a Navy ship in the Arabian Sea, an American military official said.

The Taliban's former ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, was in U.S. custody Sunday aboard a Navy ship in the Arabian Sea, an American military official said.

U.S. officials hope Zaeef, one of the highest-ranking Taliban members taken captive since the U.S.-led coalition launched its war to crush the militia and its al-Qaeda allies, will provide useful intelligence for the ongoing campaign. Zaeef was the main mouthpiece for the Taliban as the United States prepared and launched its onslaught in Afghanistan

During the height of the bombing campaign, he held daily news conferences at his embassy in Islamabad to defend the Taliban. He eventually was shut down by Pakistan's government.

U.S. Marine Lt. James Jarvis told a news briefing at the Marine-controlled Kandahar airport that Zaeef was being held on a ship in the Arabian Sea. He is one of the first prisoners known to be taken directly to a U.S. ship rather than to a prison camp in Kandahar first.

Zaeef was arrested Thursday by Pakistani authorities and taken to the border town of Peshawar and questioned. Pakistan said he was deported Saturday to Afghanistan, but refused to say whether he had been turned over to Afghan or American authorities.

Pakistan, one of only three countries that recognized the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan after they took control in 1996, said Zaeef lost his diplomatic immunity when Taliban rule collapsed under the pressure of the U.S. and anti-Taliban Afghan military campaign and the interim administration of Prime Minister Hamid Karzai came to power.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees rejected Zaeef's application for refugee status. Pakistan has said his wife and six children can remain in the country for a while.

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