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Afghan Taleban threatens to try Iranians as spies

KABUL, Aug 11 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taleban movement said on Tuesday it could put captured Iranians on trial on charges of spying as they had not been registered as diplomats.

The Taleban foreign ministry issued the statement while reacting to Iran's charge that Taleban forces had detained 11 of its diplomats and a correspondent of the official news agency IRNA in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif after capturing it on Saturday.

On Monday, the Taleban government of what it calls the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan denied capturing any Iranian diplomats but said it had arrested 35 Iranian truck drivers who had been delivering ammunition to opposition forces.

``The forces of Islamic Emirate found the (Iranian) consulate empty after entering Mazar,'' the Taleban said in a statement on Tuesday.

``Of course, some Iranians were seen among opposition prisoners and similarly trucks loaded with weapons and ammunitions sent from Iran for our opposition were seized,'' it said.

``Therefore, any foreign national whose identity is not registered by us as diplomat and, without the permission of the foreign ministry, enters Afghanistan is not a diplomat...but foreign spy,'' the statement said.

It said such a person, if arrested, ``will be tried and punished according to the regulations of the Islamic Emirate.''

A U.N. plane on Monday evacuated nine Iranians, including a diplomat, from the opposition-held central province of Bamiyan to neighbouring Pakistan.

The Pakistani embassy in Tehran said on Tuesday it was using its influence with the Taleban to try to ensure the safety of any Iranians trapped by fighting in Afghanistan.

Relations between the Sunni Moslem radical Taleban and the predominantly Shi'ite Moslem Iran have been tense since the militia emerged as a force in 1994.

Iran recognises the administration of ousted President Burhanuddin Rabbani, which also holds the Afghan seat at the United Nations. The Taleban government is recognised by Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

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