LONDON: A British couple in their 70s who ran education programs in Afghanistan have been detained by the Taliban administration, their daughter said, urging the British government to do everything possible to secure their release.
Barbie and Peter Reynolds, 75 and 79, were detained by the Taliban’s interior ministry on February 1, their daughter Sarah Entwistle, who lives in central England, said.
Speaking to Times Radio on Monday, Entwistle said her parents had initially kept in touch via text messages following their detention — assuring their four children that they were fine — before losing all contact three days later.
“Our parents have always sought to honor the Taliban, so we wanted to give them the opportunity to explain their reasons for this detention. However, after more than three weeks of silence, we can no longer wait,” she said.
“We’re now urgently calling on the British consulate to do everything in their power to get us answers and to put as much pressure as they can on the Taliban for their release,” Entwistle added.
Britain’s Foreign Office said on Monday it was “supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan,” without providing further detail.
The BBC, citing official Taliban sources, reported on Sunday that two British nationals believed to be working for a non-governmental organization in the central Afghan province of Bamiyan had been arrested. It cited one official as saying they had been arrested about 20 days ago after using a plane without informing local authorities.
Afghan authorities arrested four individuals — two British nationals, one Chinese-American and their interpreter, Abdul Mateen, a spokesman for the interior ministry, told Reuters.
The couple were arrested alongside a Chinese-American friend, Faye Hall, and a translator from their training business, Britain’s PA news agency reported.
Western countries including Britain and the United States shut their embassies and withdrew their diplomats as the Taliban took over Afghanistan in 2021.
Britain advises its nationals against any travel to Afghanistan, warning of the risks of being detained there.
The British couple had been running projects in schools in Afghanistan for 18 years, deciding to stay even after the Taliban seized power, the Sunday Times said.
Daughter calls for UK to help British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban
https://arab.news/gwr2w
Daughter calls for UK to help British couple in their 70s detained by Taliban
- Britain’s Foreign Office said on Monday it was “supporting the family of two British nationals who are detained in Afghanistan,” without providing further detail
Reform UK London mayoral candidate criticized over burqa stop-and-search remarks
- Laila Cunningham claimed parts of British capital felt culturally different due to the visibility of Muslim communities
LONDON: The newly announced London mayoral candidate for the right-wing British party Reform UK faced criticism on Friday following comments suggesting women wearing the burqa should be subject to police stop-and-search, The Guardian newspaper reported.
Speaking on a podcast, Laila Cunningham said that in an “open society” people should not cover their faces, adding that it “has to be assumed” those who do so are doing it “for a criminal reason.”
She also argued that London should have “one civic culture” which “should be British,” claiming parts of the British capital felt culturally different due to the visibility of Muslim communities.
The remarks prompted concern from Muslim organizations, with Shaista Gohir, chief executive of the Muslim Women’s Network UK, describing the comments as “dangerous” and a “dog whistle” that could further alienate Muslim women.
She warned they risked emboldening abuse, adding: “The number of Muslim women who wear the burqa in this country is tiny, and yet this is what has been chosen as a focus.”
Gohir said her organisation had recently seen a rise in threatening and Islamophobic correspondence, arguing that Cunningham’s comments were “sending a message to Muslims that they do not belong.”
Afzal Khan, a Labour MP based in Manchester, called Cunningham’s comments a “deliberate and cynical ploy”, adding it was “about divisive ideas being pumped into the society deliberately for electoral benefits.”
London Mayor Sadiq Khan also criticized attempts to stoke division, saying that the role of mayor was to bring communities together.
“Almost without argument, our city is the greatest city in the world because of our diversity,” he said, adding that freedom of religion and expression were “quintessentially British rights.”
Cunningham, a former Crown Prosecution Service prosecutor and British-born Muslim, was confirmed as Reform UK’s London mayoral candidate last week.
The issue of face coverings has previously sparked internal debate within Reform, with senior figures having distanced the party from earlier calls for a burqa ban.
