KABUL, Afghanistan — International Red Cross personnel visited eight foreign aid workers Sunday, ending three weeks of isolation for the workers, who are jailed on charges of preaching Christianity in the devoutly Muslim nation.
The Red Cross doctors and nurses met the aid workers — two Americans, four Germans and two Australians — in their Kabul lockup, gave them a cursory medical exam and handed them letters from home.
"They were happy to see us," said Robert Monin, who heads the Red Cross delegation in Kabul. He said that under Red Cross regulations, he could not discuss the detained workers' health or their living conditions.
Meanwhile, the leader of the hard-line Taliban militia that rules Afghanistan banned the use of the Internet for national and international aid organizations. Mullah Mohammed Omar's edict, issued Saturday, also prohibits Internet use by government departments.
The move could seriously hamper aid groups, which rely heavily on the Internet to correspond with head offices. The edict didn't make clear how it would be enforced or what punishment would be handed to violators, saying only that it would be in keeping with Islamic law.
The eight foreign aid workers were detained along with 16 Afghan staff members after the Taliban raided the offices of Shelter Now International, a German-based Christian aid organization.
The two American women, single and in their mid-20s, have been identified as Dana Curry and Heather Mercer. Their hometowns have not been released. The other six jailed foreigners have been identified as Germans George Taubmann, Margrit Stebnar, Kati Jelinek and Silke Duerrkopf; and Australians Peter Bunch and Diana Thomas.
For the past week, the American women's parents have been in nearby Pakistan, pleading for a chance to see their daughters. The Taliban finally relented, saying they have completed the first and "very important" phase of their investigation into the proselytizing charges.
Relatives of the jailed American women are expected to get their visas on Monday in Pakistan — one of only three countries to have diplomatic ties with the ruling Islamic militia here.
For Curry, the Red Cross visit was timely: It came just a day after she suffered an asthma attack, according to the Taliban. They said they escorted her home to pick up medicine just before midnight.
"I asked her if she had some pain, because she was having trouble breathing. We told her 'we can bring you good medicine,' but she said 'I have good medicine at home,' " Mullah Abdul Mateen, the military chief of the Taliban's ministry for the promotion of virtue and the prevention of vice, told The Associated Press on Sunday.
"Today she was happy, joking and laughing," Mateen said. "She said, 'Now I am very relaxed.' "
One of the German detainees, Jelinek, asked the military chief if he could take care of her two dogs, offering to pay him when she was released, Mateen said. Red Cross officials earlier said the detained foreign aid workers had six dogs.
On Saturday, the Taliban also agreed to let Western diplomats visit their jailed nationals.