Taliban releases French journalist
By The Associated Press,
freedomforum.org staff
11.05.01
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| Michel Peyrard arrives at Pakistani border post of Torkham on Nov. 3. |
A French journalist for the Paris Match newsweekly arrested last month in Afghanistan was released Nov. 3 and handed over to French diplomats along the Pakistani border, the Associated Press reported.
Michel Peyrard, who had entered the country illegally, disguised as an Afghan woman, appeared relaxed and was smiling when he crossed the border after sundown.
"I was not tortured," he told reporters. "They were treating me fairly and they gave me food. They questioned me about my profession. This morning they told me 'you are going home.' "
Peyrard's two Pakistani journalist companions, Mohammad Arfan and Mukrram Khan — also arrested on Oct. 9 — were also expected to be released, but at the last minute were ordered back to the Afghan city of Jalalabad, the French reporter said.
Peyrard described his near monthlong detention as "manageable" after some initial harsh treatment, according to the French news agency Agence France-Presse, which also reported that the journalist was greeted at the Torkham crossing point in northwest Pakistan by the French ambassador to Pakistan, Yannick Gerard, and Pakistani officials.
His release was accompanied by a stern Taliban warning to foreign reporters not to enter the country without papers, AFP reported.
Speaking to reporters in Peshawar, Pakistan, the Paris Match correspondent said he had coped well in Taliban custody, despite some early scares.
"The first day was pretty difficult, with some rough treatment," he said, according to AFP. He added that at the time of their arrest, one of the two Pakistani journalists was shoved and beaten.
"I feel fine, I feel fine. To tell you the truth I wasn't expecting to be released so soon," Peyrard was quoted by the BBC as saying.
"Only this morning we had rather bad news, that the report of the Taliban secret services investigators had concluded that I was a spy, and I thought I might be transferred to Kabul. So I'm very relieved.
"I was actually able to work, to conduct interviews. There are a lot of people detained in ... Jalalabad, at present, and I was able to interview them at leisure."
AFP reported Peyrard as saying there were about 400 prisoners in Jalalabad, many of them original supporters of the Taliban but now suspected of plotting against the Islamic militia.
About the Taliban, he said: "They are extremely calm. They believe they have defeated the United States insofar as the ground attack, which, they say, they were expecting, has not materialized. For them this is proof of victory," the BBC reported.
Peyrard told reporters he was held with a jailed Japanese photojournalist, Daigen Yanagida of Tokyo, who he said was doing "perfectly well." The status and identity of the jailed Japanese has been uncertain, with some reports saying he is a free lance with no Japanese accreditation.
In Paris, President Jacques Chirac hailed Peyrard's release, saying "this liberation marks the importance attached to the full respect of the freedom of the press," AP reported. French Culture Minister Catherine Tasca expressed satisfaction that efforts to free Peyrard had succeeded "after weeks of worry," AP said.
Paris Match's executive editor, Alain Genestar, told France-Info radio that numerous people and elements were involved in freeing Peyrard. Those he cited included French diplomats and Abdul Salam Zaeef, the Taliban ambassador in Pakistan, according to the AP.
Mullah Tajmir, the head of Taliban intelligence in Jalalabad, where Peyrard and the Pakistanis were detained, warned all foreign journalists against entering Afghanistan, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.
"We warn all journalists that they should not enter Afghanistan illegally because we have reports that US and British intelligence agencies have been using all tactics to achieve their objectives and they are sending agents as journalists.
"If any journalist crossed into Afghanistan illegally, he will be suspected as a spy and there is a possibility that he may be tried on charges of spying," he said.
Tajmir was quoted as saying that the Taliban gave Peyrard "all facilities but on certain occasions he went on hunger strike."
The official said Peyrard's release had been ordered by Taliban supreme leader Mullah Mohammad Omar after requests by the French authorities and the journalist's family.
Previous
French journalist arrested by Taliban says he knew risk
BBC reports that Michel Peyrard has been charged with being a spy, a capital offense.
10.17.01
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