Red Cross may visit detained aid workers

KABUL, Afghanistan (CNN) -- The International Committee of the Red Cross may be allowed to visit eight Western aid workers accused of trying to convert Muslims to Christianity, Afghanistan's Taliban Foreign Minister said Tuesday.

Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said Foreign Ministry officials were discussing the idea of allowing the Red Cross to see the detainees.

The announcement came as diplomats from the United States, Germany and Australia were returning on a U.N. flight to Islamabad, Pakistan, Tuesday morning after having their requests for extended visas denied by the ruling Taliban.

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They left Afghanistan without having seen eight Western aid workers being held on charges of proselytizing.

The eight members of the Shelter Now International assistance group have been held in Kabul since Aug. 6.

In Washington, Deputy State Department spokesman Philip Reeker called the denial of access to those jailed "a violation of international norms."

The aid workers are accused of attempting to convert Muslims to Christianity, an act considered illegal by the Islamic Taliban. Sixteen Afghan aid workers have also been arrested.

Envoys left empty-handed

Visas issued last week to the diplomats expired Tuesday, and Taliban officials refused to renew them.

In a statement released in Kabul, the diplomats said they would "return to Islamabad to continue our efforts to obtain consular access and to work for the speedy release of our citizens."

Reeker said the Taliban had advised the consular officers to contact Taliban representatives in Islamabad to "learn when the investigations of the detained aid workers have been concluded."

He said the Taliban had assured the consular officers that the detainees are being treated well.

Taliban officials were reported to have passed along to the detainees the toiletries, food and letters from their families that were delivered by the diplomats last week.

"But that of course is insufficient," Reeker said. "What we want is access so that we can make those determinations ourselves."

This isn't a game of "Let's Make a Deal," he said. "We want the Taliban to live up to international norms and obligations and grant our consular officers access".

Taliban refuses to follow international law

A Taliban official said it has no obligation to follow international law when the vast majority of the international community doesn't recognize the group as the government of Afghanistan.

Only Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have established diplomatic relations with the Taliban, which has control of 95 percent of Afghanistan.

A State Department official said that once David Donahue, the U.S. consul general in Islamabad, and the other diplomats return, they will visit the Taliban representative there as a group "every day until they get another visa to return to Kabul and visit with the detainees."

Another State Department official told CNN the diplomats during their visit made no headway on hearing the charges against the detainees.

Nor did they hear an explanation as to how the case would be handled according to the Taliban's interpretation of its Islamic laws.

Department officials said efforts to secure the aid workers' release are complicated by the lack of formal diplomatic relations with the Taliban.

Ultra-conservative

The U.S. does not recognize the Taliban as the legitimate government of Afghanistan.

The Taliban follows an ultra-conservative interpretation of Islamic faith and has implemented a strict brand of law in Afghanistan.

According to another State Department official, Shelter Now has been known to be proselytizing for several years in Afghanistan.

Shelter Now is based in Germany. According to its Web site, the group has been working in Afghanistan and Pakistan for the past 20 years, helping refugees, distributing food, building mud homes and working on other aid projects.