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CNN Live At Daybreak

Two Pakistani Scientists Detained for Contact with Taliban

Aired October 26, 2001 - 06:04   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's go ahead and travel across the border in Pakistan. That is where word that two scientists are being questioned for meeting with the Taliban. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Islamabad today, and he joins us now with the latest.

Nic, hello once again.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello Daryn. Well those two scientists had formerly worked for Pakistan's Atomic Energy Commission and Pakistani authorities say they've detained them here in Pakistan because of their contacts with the Taliban. Now sources who know these two former employees of the Atomic Energy Commission say that they were both deeply religious.

One of them was a very skilled electronic engineer, we understand, and he had received an award in Pakistan for his work at the -- at the Atomic Energy Commission. Now they -- the sources tell us that these two scientists had gone to Afghanistan after the Taliban took power there and that they'd been advising the Taliban on scientific issues.

But Pakistani officials here say they are sure that they have not -- these two scientists have not passed any nuclear details onto the Taliban at this time. Inside Afghanistan in Kandahar, our staff there attended a demonstration today. This demonstration, they say, several hundred people showed up. They were all civilians, and these people were coming out and demonstrating, our staff there say, because they wanted a protest against the ongoing airstrikes, against the fact that they say civilians are being killed in those airstrikes.

And our staff also say that in that demonstration there were people there holding up banners supporting Osama bin Laden. Now recently the Taliban have been against people gathering out in public in large numbers. They have told our staff recently that they couldn't go and film a helicopter crash site because going out on the streets in a large group would attract the possibility of airstrikes.

But we do know in recent days -- in the recent -- last three weeks of the air campaign, that Fridays have typically have been a very, very slow day as far as allied bombing goes around and above cities. And certainly that appears to be the case in Kandahar, as well today.

Daryn. KAGAN: And Nic, what can you tell us about the arrests or detainment of Abdul Haq an opposition leader who had been in Pakistan, but did cross back over into Afghanistan.

ROBERTSON: Well we understand from his associates in Pashawar where he was based and has been based for a number of weeks now, that he probably crossed into Afghanistan on Sunday or Monday. From the Taliban here, they confirmed that -- they say that he has been arrested and where we asked them what are the implications for Abdul Haq, if that's the case, they said their radio broadcasts before the Taliban's radio network had been taken down inside Afghanistan by the allied bombing -- had been saying that anyone that sided with the king and certainly Abdul Haq as far as they're concerned, falls into that category -- anyone siding with the king, the exiled King Zahir Shah would be accountable to charges of treason.

And that is punishable by death. It's perhaps also indicative that a commander -- a former military commander going back into Afghanistan at this stage who would have gone back in likely knowing that he could count on some level of support over his whereabouts being concealed, after four or five days, being picked up by the Taliban -- perhaps indicative, still of the level of support that the Taliban have in those rural communities and certainly in eastern Afghanistan. Those have been the indications we've been getting recently.

Daryn.

KAGAN: Nic Robertson in Islamabad, thank you very much.

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