June 26, 2003	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 25,1424

KABUL, June 25: Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Wednesday ordered the release of two journalists arrested last week, but said they would still face trial for publishing an article allegedly blasphemous to Islam, the national faith.

“Now I have instructed the release of the two journalists pending their case in the court and let them go and defend themselves in the court of law in accordance with the laws of the country,” Karzai told a radio broadcast.

The two were released Wednesday following criticism of their detention by the United Nations and international free press and human rights watchdogs.

Sayeed Mirhassan Mahdawi, editor of the Aftab (“Sun”) weekly, and his Iranian deputy Ali Payam Sestani were arrested last Tuesday for publishing an article deemed offensive to Islam, contravening the country’s press law.

The supreme court had called the article, headlined ‘Holy Fascism’, an “offence to Islam”.

Karzai said he had ordered an investigation into the article and defended the detention.

“The attorney general wrote to me of what had happened and asked for permission for an investigation and I instructed that these people be investigated,” he said.

“And the investigation requires that those who are investigated for certain violation of laws must be detained for three days. After that we kept them in protective custody because there are lots of bad people around, miscreants who would like to use this issue to cause a lot of trouble,” he said.—AFP