Taliban-held American loves Afghans, dad says

U.S. aid worker Dayna Curry

By Larry Woods
CNN

BRENTWOOD, Tennessee (CNN) -- Tilden Curry, pensive and understandably worried, devours every bit of information he can about the fate of his 29-year-old daughter, Dayna.

Along with seven other Western relief workers -- including one other American -- and 16 Afghan aid workers, she has been accused by Afghanistan's hard-line Taliban rulers of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, a violation of Taliban law. If the aid workers are found guilty, they could face a possible death sentence.

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"I don't think she ever thought she was doing anything inappropriate," Curry said. "She's not that type of person. She loved Afghan people, and she was there to help them. ... Surely they wouldn't do that for such a minor offense -- even if it were an offense."

Curry and his wife, Sue Fuller, along with Dayna's mother, Nancy Cassell, who is in Pakistan, are clinging to State Department assurances they are doing all they can to free the group.

"I heard that maybe the trial had been reconvened so I'm very hopeful they'll go ahead and finish that and release them soon afterward," Curry said.

Curry, a quiet, introspective man who tries to shield his emotions, admits he fears he may never see his daughter again. All he and his family can do is wait and hope.

Dayna Curry grew up in the suburbs of Nashville, where she attended an upscale high school.

In 1989, the pretty, devoutly religious teen-ager graduated from Brentwood High School. Friends and teachers remember her as an average student who blended in with the crowd.

Tilden Curry, U.S. aid worker's father

Steve Czirr, a local fireman who first met Dayna Curry in the ninth grade, recalls her as sort of the girl next door and said she seemed set on helping others after graduation.

"Hopefully, she knew the risks she was facing when she went over there," Czirr said. "I do feel for her, and I hope they get her back definitely. We're here to save lives ourselves, and we don't ever want to see anybody perish."

Before her arrest last month, she was helping feed and educate the poor in war-ravaged Afghanistan through the efforts of Shelter Now International, her family said.

"She always kind of knew in the back of her mind there was an imminent danger, but she never wanted that to deter her because she believed in what she was doing," said Clay Curry, her brother.

Before the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Currys received word that Dayna was all right.

"As far as being in prison, she thought the conditions were pretty good," her father said. "They had a small room and they could all lie down ... had a courtyard they could exercise in and thought the food was good, and they were being treated very well."

Despite those conditions, Sue Fuller said she knew her stepdaughter was concerned about the situation.

"I think emotionally she's probably afraid a lot," Fuller said. "We're all afraid of the unknown. But I know she has this inner strength."

And if Tilden Curry could get a message to his daughter or her captors, what would he say?

"Well, of course ... we love her; we miss her; we want her home."