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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Killer of Journalists Sentenced to Death in Afghanistan |
| 2004-11-21 |
| KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 20 - An Afghan man was sentenced to death in a Kabul court on Saturday for his part in the killing of three foreign journalists and an Afghan photographer in November 2001 shortly after the fall of the Taliban. The four journalists - an Australian television cameraman, Harry Burton, and the Afghan photographer, Azizullah Haidari, both from Reuters; Maria Grazia Cutuli of the Italian daily Corriere della Sera; and Julio Fuentes of El Mundo, a Spanish daily - were traveling here from Jalalabad shortly after Kabul fell to anti-Taliban forces. Their car was stopped on the road by gunmen and the journalists were robbed and shot. Ms. Cutuli was raped. The man, Reza Khan, 29, a former Taliban fighter, admitted in court that he had been present during the holdup but denied taking part in the killing or the rape. He admitted to separate charges of killing one of his four wives, and to cutting off the noses and ears of four travelers held up later on the same road. He received the death sentence for the murders and a separate 15-year sentence for rape. "He confessed himself to many things," said Judge Abdul Basit Bakhtiari, who presided over the trial. The case will automatically go to an appeals court and then to the Supreme Court, he said. |
| Posted by:Mrs. Davis |
| #2 Correct you are, Frank. Sorry for the duplicate. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-11-21 6:07:36 PM |
| #1 thought we were stretching his neck yesterday? |
| Posted by: Frank G 2004-11-21 5:57:40 PM |