2 Envoys Asked To Leave Over Taliban Talks

Team Infidel

Forum Spin Doctor
Washington Times
December 30, 2007
Pg. 5
By Eleanor Mayne, London Sunday Telegraph
KABUL, Afghanistan — Two European diplomats accused of holding secret talks with the Taliban in Afghanistan were thrown out of the country following a complaint by the United States, intelligence officials in Kabul said.
British diplomat Mervyn Patterson, who worked for the United Nations, and European Union diplomat Michael Semple from Ireland were flown out of Kabul on Thursday after the Afghan government accused them of "threatening national security."
But according to a senior Afghan intelligence source, American officials had been unhappy about meetings between the men and high-level Taliban commanders in the volatile Helmand province.
The source said the U.S. alerted Afghan authorities after learning that the diplomats were providing direct financial and other support — including mobile phone cards — to Taliban commanders, in the hope of persuading them to swap sides.
"This warning came from the Americans," he said. "They were not happy with the support being provided to the Taliban. They gave the information to our intelligence services, who ordered the arrests."
A government source in Kabul said there were close links between Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the CIA. "The Afghan government would never have acted alone to expel officials of such a senior level. This was information that was given to the NDS by the Americans," he said.
The claims are likely to reinforce perceptions of a rift between the U.S. and its international partners in Afghanistan, including Britain.
Last year, U.S. commanders expressed frustration with the British decision to withdraw from Musa Qala and allow tribal elders to strike a deal with the Taliban, who quickly reoccupied the town.
The U.S. Embassy has strongly denied any involvement in the incident involving the two diplomats, saying it had "no knowledge" of their activities.
Afghan officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, have accused the men of giving support to the Taliban in the form of money, food and phone cards for 10 months.
 
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