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Taliban Expel BBC Reporter
LONDON, March 14 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Afghanistan's ruling Taliban militia Wednesday ordered the closure of the British Broadcasting Corporation's office and gave its foreign correspondent 24 hours to leave the country, officials said.
The militia presented reporter Kate Clark with a letter ordering her to leave Afghanistan for not representing the "realities" of life under the Taliban regime.
Although the letter did not speak of closing the office, foreign ministry officials later confirmed the order.
The letter said the BBC's coverage of Afghanistan was "away from the existing realities" and told Clark, posted in Kabul in mid-1999, to leave "by Thursday afternoon for the time being."
Nightly BBC broadcasts in the two Afghan national languages of Dari and Pushto have a huge audience among those lucky enough to have radios in the extremely poor country.
The Taliban provoked international outcry two weeks ago when they ordered the destruction of ancient statues to stop idolatry.
A BBC report, broadcast in the BBC's Pushto service, on Tuesday said it was difficult to find Afghans who agreed with the Taliban's iconoclasm, which saw the destruction of the country's most famous historic monuments, the Bamiyan Buddhas, on Sunday.
CNN reports that the Afghan Islamic Press, based in Peshawer, said the order telling Clark to leave, followed the broadcast Tuesday night that included an interview with an American professor who called the Taliban's destruction of ancient statues barbaric.
A Taliban official, Tayyab Agha, said the BBC had used "derogatory language" against the Taliban and its reporting on the demolition was "misleading and hostile".
The BBC said it "deeply regrets" the order and would "continue to cover Afghanistan from Pakistan and elsewhere.
"Almost alone among the international news organizations, the BBC has been committed to covering Afghanistan despite the extremely difficult circumstances of the past decade.
"The BBC asks the Taliban authorities to reconsider their decision."
Britain's Foreign Office said on Wednesday it was "extremely concerned" at reports that the Taliban had expelled the BBC's correspondent from the country.
Junior Foreign Office minister Brian Wilson said in a statement that his officials were seeking urgent clarification of the incident from the Taliban.
"I am extremely concerned at these reports, which would represent a worrying new development," Wilson said.
"We deplore any attempt to restrict reporting and deprive the people of Afghanistan of opportunities to take a balanced view of developments in their country and the region.
"We are approaching the Taliban in Islamabad to seek urgent clarification and, if necessary, to urge that this self-defeating decision be reversed. The eviction of journalists cannot conceal the truth from the world," he added.
Agence France Presse, Associated Press, Reuters, Voice of America and the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV also have permanent offices in the Afghan capital.
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