Once filled with political prisoners, Kandahar prison now has twice as many guards as inmates

By CHRISTOPHER TORCHIA
Associated Press Writer

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – For years, thousands of political prisoners and common criminals languished behind the high walls and barbed wire of Kandahar Central Jail.

Soon after the Taliban fled their last stronghold 10 days ago, their tribal foes threw open the gates, and 2,500 inmates walked free. Many belonged to the anti-Taliban northern alliance and had been brought from Kabul, Herat and other cities all over Afghanistan. Others were petty thieves.

Now there are twice as many guards as the 60 inmates left behind, and the captors have a relaxed approach to their job. On Sunday, some gathered around a large bamboo pipe with a ceramic base to inhale huge clouds of hashish smoke, an activity banned by the Taliban.

The new warden is anti-Taliban activist Saleh Jan, a former fighter against the Soviets who spent three months in the prison during the Islamic militia's rule.

He was appointed by Gul Agha, the former governor of Kandahar province, who got his old job back after taking up arms against the Taliban and advancing with the help of U.S. bombing.

In a guard tower overlooking two armored personnel carriers at the prison entrance, Jan said he had not taken charge of any new inmates since the Taliban fled the city.

"Institutions haven't been set up. The justice system isn't working yet. They're still appointing officials," he said. He sat on a carpet surrounded by robed prison staff. A pile of rocket-propelled grenades was stacked in one corner.

Most of the remaining inmates are convicted murderers who have been forgiven by the their victims' families, which once was enough to gain clemency, Jan said.

But they are still serving five- or 10-year sentences imposed by the Taliban. Perhaps Afghanistan's new government will free them, he said.

In one of the eight cellblocks sit five mysterious prisoners – a British Muslim, two Saudis, a Syrian Kurd and a Russian. The Briton was silent, but the others vigorously denied any links to the al-Qaida network of Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Thousands of Arabs and Muslims from other parts of the world fought alongside the Taliban in what they called a jihad, or holy war. But many were killed in U.S. bombing or captured by Afghan forces opposed to the Taliban.

Inmate Abdul Hakim, a Saudi national, said he was on a carpet-buying trip to the Afghan town of Spinboldak, on the border with Pakistan, when unidentified assailants mugged and tortured him, accused him of plotting to kill bin Laden and brought him to the Kandahar jail four months ago.

"Osama is the great Satan, the new Hitler of this time," Hakim said in English in his cellblock courtyard. "I don't have anything to do with that stupid guy."

Another Saudi said he fled his country after being jailed there for theft and ended up in Afghanistan, where the Taliban jailed him at least four years ago on charges of spying.

Indifferent to dozens of flies buzzing around a nearby plate of oranges and pomegranates, Abdul Rahim of Syria said he had been in Taliban custody for two years on charges of spying for Israel and the United States.

"The Afghans don't trust us," he said.

A blue-eyed Russian prisoner, Irat Wahitov, told a convoluted story about fleeing persecution in Russia and trying to travel to Turkey through Afghanistan. He was picked up by the Taliban, he said, and accused of being a KGB spy.

Jan, the warden, confirmed that the foreign prisoners had been jailed under the Taliban but said he had been unable to determine whether their stories were true. Red Cross staff have visited the inmates to take their names and other details.

"They're no longer prisoners. They're our guests," Jan said. "If the Red Cross comes to pick them up, we'll hand them over."

In a measure of lax jail regulations, several reporters were allowed to enter the cellblock and sit alone with the foreign prisoners. But the visitors had to wait an hour to get in; the official with the cellblock keys was running an errand in the bazaar.

APNP-12-17-01 0711CST