KABUL, 27 November 2004 — A British freelance cameraman said yesterday he was detained by Afghan authorities for his role in the release of three UN hostages and came under pressure to sign a statement saying he was part of the kidnap gang.

Peter Jouvenal, who has been covering Afghanistan for three decades and runs a hotel in Kabul, told AFP he was picked up by police from the Gandamack guesthouse on Thursday afternoon and detained overnight.

The incident came amid continuing confusion about both the abduction and the release of the foreign election workers, who were freed unharmed on Tuesday after spending 27 days in captivity.

“I was detained because I was involved in negotiating the release of the UN officials. At one stage they wanted me to sign a statement saying that I was part of the kidnap gang,” he added.

Jouvenal said he and another journalist had been speaking to the head of the obscure Taleban splinter group Jaishul Muslimeen, or Army of Muslims, that claimed to be holding the hostages.

He added that they had merely passed on messages from a Kosovan businessman who was appealing for the release of the hostages, Annetta Flanigan of Northern Ireland, Kosovan Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino Angelito Nayan.

Jouvenal said Interior Ministry officials did not charge him with anything but tried to intimidate him into signing a confession.

“I wasn’t warned about my rights, they were trying to get me to sign some statement that they could use to charge me. The Interior Ministry were a bunch of Soviet-era thugs who were producing fabricated evidence,” he said.

Jouvenal said that after 20 hours with Interior Ministry officials he was passed to Afghan intelligence officers for questioning. They took a statement and released him yesterday after an hour but asked him to remain in the country.

The reason for the release of the hostages, who were seized from lunchtime traffic in Kabul on Oct. 28, is unclear. There are conflicting claims about whether any ransom or other deal was involved.

A spokesman for Jaishul Muslimeen told AFP earlier this week that Flanigan and Nayan were freed in return for an agreement to release 24 Taleban prisoners, and Hebibi was released after the appeal by her countryman.

Afghan officials deny that any ransom was paid or any Taleban prisoners released.

The Kosovan businessman, Beghget Pacolli, also denies paying a ransom and Jouvenal said “as far as I am aware no money changed hands,” adding that he did not know anything about the release of Taleban prisoners.

The identity of the kidnappers also remains a mystery. Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said the hunt for a criminal gang behind the kidnap was ongoing and vowed to track the hostage-takers down.

Afghanistan’s human rights commission has launched an inquiry into the death of one suspect linked to the kidnapping who died in police custody after allegedly being tortured.

Military operations may also have been involved in the release of the hostages who, according to Western intelligence sources, drove unescorted into Kabul in an unmarked Toyota Corolla.

In the lead-up to the release, Afghan authorities aided by the US military carried out several raids on houses in Kabul and the neighboring Shomali plain to hunt the kidnappers. At least one person was killed.

The kidnapping was the first in Kabul since the fall of the Taleban regime three years ago and had sparked fears Afghanistan may follow Iraq — where at least 30 people have been killed by hostage-takers.