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Freed reporter: Taliban were 'kind'

Michel Peyrard
Peyrard, centre, handed over to French authorities on the Pakistan border  


PARIS, France -- French journalist Michel Peyrard has spoken of his captivity after being released by the Taliban after nearly a month under arrest.

The 44-year-old, who works for Paris Match magazine, was freed on Saturday. He arrived at the Pakistani border town of Torkhman at 6:35 pm local time, where he was handed over to the French ambassador.

In response to journalists' questions, he said: "The Taliban treated me with kindness. I feel very normal now.

"The first day was quite tough. And then the conditions were quite acceptable.

"We had food and we had the possibility to have one room (each)."

He added, that the prisons were full of political detainees as a result of a Taliban clampdown.

Peyrard was arrested on October 9 in the Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan dressed in Afghan women's clothing -- the head-to-toe burqa.

He had entered the country in disguise to report on the U.S. air strikes, having been refused numerous visa applications.

But he was caught after a Taliban recognised one of his Pakistani colleagues travelling in the same car.

The situation was made worse because Payrard was carrying a satellite phone, despite strict restrictions imposed by the ruling Taliban regime on such technology in the country.

"It's quite a stupid story," Peyrard said about his arrest.

"So as you probably know I was wearing a burqa, but I was with some others, with one Pakistani journalist, actually.

"And we are at the main checkpost 15 kilometres off Jalalabad. Some Talibans wanted to get into our car to go to Jalalabad just to check the results of the last bombing.

"And one of them recognised the Pakistani journalist from the Statesman because he had made an interview with them two weeks ago. And so he started to intervene and somebody said 'yes', but he is with somebody, and that was me."

One of Peyrard's Pakistani guides, Mohammad Arfan, was also released, but no word has been heard about his other guide, Mukrram Khan.

A Japanese journalist is still being detained.

Editors at the magazine, as well as the French government and President Jacques Chirac, had lobbied the ruling Taliban to drop charges of espionage against Peyrard.

Peyrard is the latest Western reporter released by the Taliban after trying to slip into the country illegally.

British journalist Yvonne Ridley was released after 10 days, after trying to enter the country dressed in a burqa last month.

Another French journalist, 33-year-old Aziz Zemouri of the weekly Le Figaro magazine, was also arrested in Afghanistan by the Taliban last month and handed over to Pakistani authorities after five days.



 
 
 
 


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