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'I knew the risks' says held journalist

Andy Soloman
Thursday 18 October 2001 00:00 BST
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A French journalist who was arrested and accused of spying by Afghanistan's ruling Taliban said he was aware of the risks involved when he entered the country illegally.

But Michel Peyrard, who works for Paris Match magazine, told a BBC reporter that he had intended to apply to the Taliban for permission to work in the country once he reached the eastern city of Jalalabad.

A Pakistani newspaper, meanwhile, quoted a Taliban official saying that Peyrard, who faces charges that can carry the death penalty, would not be shown the same leniency as the British journalist, Yvonne Ridley, who was freed by the Taliban on 8 October.

"I knew perfectly the risk to be arrested, that the probability was high," Peyrard said, adding he had been treated well. Peyrard, 44, was arrested on 9 October near Jalalabad after entering the country disguised under a head-to-toe Muslim woman's veil, or burqa. He was charged with spying, and told he would be tried.

He said he had chosen to use a disguise because he felt it was the only way he could cover the story properly.

"I applied for a visa many times. You know, I am covering this kind of crisis for many years – in Bosnia, in Kosovo, in Chechnya," he said.

The BBC conducted the interview during a Taliban-organised trip to Jalalabad. Peyrard is being held with two Pakistani journalists who were arrested with him.

The Pakistani daily, The News, said one of its reporters also met Peyrard in detention Jalalabad.

A Taliban guard who said he took part in Peyrard's capture, said that the French reporter was almost killed by angry Arab militants on the first day of his detention but the guards protected him from harm.

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