Tuesday October 9 2:09 PM ET

French Newsman Nabbed in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - A French journalist disguised as a woman was arrested Tuesday in eastern Afghanistan and will be charged with espionage, a news agency reported.

The private Afghan Islamic Press, citing Afghan sources, said the Frenchman was arrested along with two Pakistani companions about 20 miles east of Jalalabad and taken there for interrogation. Relatives of the Pakistanis confirmed they were arrested.

An editor at the French weekly Paris Match said the journalist is probably Michel Peyrard, a reporter for the news magazine. Deputy editor Patrick Jarnoux said Peyrard telephoned him late Monday from Pakistan and said he planned to enter Afghanistan in the Jalalabad area.

Peyrard, in his mid-30s, had already ventured into Afghanistan once this month, Jarnoux told The Associated Press in Paris. France's foreign ministry said it was trying to track down Peyrard.

Officials of the ruling Taliban said the Frenchman would be charged with espionage, the Afghan Islamic Press reported. It quoted unidentified Taliban officials as saying Taliban security seized a satellite telephone, tape recorder and other ``equipment used for spying.''

In the Pakistani border city of Peshawar, relatives of the two Pakistanis said they were journalists from a tribal area along the Afghan border.

Last month, British journalist Yvonne Ridley was arrested in the Jalalabad area after sneaking into Afghanistan to report on the situation following the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States. The Taliban initially accused her of being a spy.

Ridley, who works for the Sunday Express of London, was released and sent to Pakistan on Monday. However, the Afghan Islamic Press reported that the French detainee would not be considered a journalist and that ``no release'' would be provided for him.

The Taliban ordered all foreign journalists to leave the country shortly after the Sept.11 attacks.

-- Anonymous, October 09, 2001