UK govt in negotiations with Afghan govt

UK govt in negotiations after three British men held in Afghanistan

LONDON: Britain’s interior minister Suella Braverman on Sunday said the UK government was “in negotiations” after three British men were detained by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Media reports have identified the men as charity medic Kevin Cornwell, 53, the unnamed manager of a hotel for aid workers and YouTube star Miles Routledge. Scott Richards, co-founder of the non-profit group the Presidium Network, told AFP his organisation was representing the families of two of the three detainees.

There had been “interactions” on Sunday with the men who were in “good condition, as best as one can be in a state of detention”.  “Theyre ostensibly charged on what we believe to be related to an accusation of an illegal firearm, although that firearm was stored in a safe alongside its licence, so we believe the situation is largely a misunderstanding,” he added. The two men are believed to have been held by the Taliban since January.

It is not known how long the third man has been held for. “The government is in negotiations and working hard to ensure peoples safety is upheld,” Braverman told Sky News earlier. “We are working hard to secure consular contact with British nationals detained in Afghanistan and we are supporting families,” the UKs foreign ministry added in a statement.

Richards said he hoped that the situation could be quickly resolved in a transparent way that would give the international aid community confidence. “In a nation that is relying on foreign aid workers due to a variety of reasons, we need to ensure that its safe for these people to operate,” he said. APP