Clementina Cantoni, who is one of my dearest friends, was kidnapped in Afghanistan on Monday, 5/16. She is an aid worker who runs programs for CARE in Afghanistan. She is a very dedicated and brave woman and does not deserve to be a pawn in the troubles of that country.
A group of Afghan widows staged a moving demonstration yesterday on her behalf, demanding her unconditional release. Reports as to her status are conflicting. The Italian and Afghan governments appear to think that she is safe, in good health and could be released soon. They claim to have spoken with the abductor, who called them using Clementina's cell phone. If so, it would appear that the call could be traced to a location, and that it is likely that she remains in Kabul and not in some outlying village with remote access.
However, there is another report which states that the abductor, Temur Shah, has appeared on an Afghan broadcast (not sure if it's radio or tv) issuing demands and threatening to kill Clementina if they are not met. He has not made a ransom demand but has demanded changes to Afghan televsion programming, the restriction of alcohol, and the promotion of the Qu'ran in classroom texts. In other words, his agenda is fundamentalist and is similar to that of the Taliban. He also claims that Clementina is injured and describes her health condition as serious. Needless to say, I am on pins and needles with such varying reports.
I have made several contacts with people in Afghanistan and the US who are looking into this matter. However, if any of you have any
contact info for well situated people in Afghanistan, the UN or NGO's, please let me know. You can email info to me at khyber900@hotmail.com. Thanks to all of you who posted responses to this diary yesterday.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/16/AR2005051601326.html
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL226783.htm
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/News/0,6119,2-10-1462_1707156,00.html
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1616283,00.html