June 20, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 8, 1423

BAGRAM AIR BASE, June 19: An Afghan man scavenging in a rubbish dump at Bagram Air Base, the command post for US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan, escaped after a scuffle with US military police on Tuesday.

The Afghan refused to hand over his pickings from the dump and was handcuffed after the scuffle, US military spokesman Colonel Roger King told reporters.

The man was turned over to Afghan security forces on the base, 50kms north of Kabul, but a friend with a base identity card drove up and the detained man jumped in. An Afghan soldier fired in the air but the two escaped.—Reuters