U.S. attacks will indefinitely delay Baylor grads' trial, church is told

10/25/2001

By LAURA HEINAUER / The Dallas Morning News

The lawyer of the two Baylor graduates jailed in Afghanistan has told members of their Waco, Texas church that the chaos arising from U.S. attacks will indefinitely postpone the trial of eight foreign aid workers accused of promoting Christianity.

The Rev. Jeff Abshire, associate pastor of the Antioch Community Church, said Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer's Pakistani lawyer told a church representative stationed in the region that he met with several Taliban judges presiding over the trial and they were unable to give a date for the next court session.

"They told him there's too much going on and that they won't be reaching any decision for a long time," he said.

The eight jailed aid workers, who have been detained in Kabul for almost three months, were also allowed to talk to family members staying in Islamabad, Pakistan. Mr. Abshire said he was not privy to the details of those conversations.

The two women are part of a group from Germany-based Shelter Now International that includes two Australians and four Germans also in custody.

A 1999 graduate from Baylor, Ms. Mercer has been in Afghanistan since March, when she was learning the language and working in an administrative position for Shelter Now. Ms. Curry, a 1993 Baylor graduate, was a social worker while in Waco before moving to Afghanistan several years ago.