Also imprisoned were 16 Afghani staff.Shelter Now International is part of a Germany–based Christian humanitarian group called Vision for Asia.The Taliban, who espouse a strict brand of Islamic law, have forbidden proselytizing – a crime punishable by death.Few people expect the Taliban to put the Westerners to death, however, and aid workers at other organizations in the Afghan capital say it is likely they will be expelled.It was less clear how the Taliban will rule on the 16 Afghanis, who were being held in a separate, undisclosed location.The Taliban have shown some of the material confiscated from the Shelter Now International office which included films on Christianity in the local Dari language, copies of the Bible translated into Dari and information about Dari–language Christian radio programs.On Tuesday, U.N. regional coordinator in Kabul, Elaine Duthoit, met with Taliban officials to push for a quick resolution. She said Taliban officials told her a review of the aid workers’ case is expected to be concluded within a few days.”Assurances were, however, received about their well being,” said Duthoit.The International Red Cross has asked the Taliban to allow them to visit the prison.Salim Haqqani, an official in the Taliban’s ministry for the promotion of virtue and prevention of vice, said the detained aid workers are well–fed and in good health.Foreign aid workers in the beleaguered capital say that the Taliban have issued several orders this year, including strict rules against proselytizing.”We want that humanitarian organizations should work here, but they should work here honestly,” Haqqani said. “They should give our religion dignity and not show disrespect by teaching against it.”The Taliban also have arrested 64 boys who received assistance from Shelter Now and who were engaged in aid work.

They were being re–educated and would be released, Taliban officials said.. Cambodia took a decisive step on Tuesday towards putting on trial those responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million of its people in some of the worst organised atrocities seen since the Second World War. Khmer Rouge KillersPol Pot: The leader of the Khmer Rouge and architect of the “killing fields” died in his sleep in a hut on the Thai Chhit Choeun: He was a notorious Khmer Rouge commander. He conducted murderous purges after his party came to power and he ruled the south-west region. He was captured in March 1999.
Khieu Samphan: He surrendered in 1998 with another Khmer Rouge leader, Nuon Chea.

Khieu lives with his four children and three grandchildren, and denies knowledge of Khmer Rouge atrocities.Kang Kek: Known as Duch, ran the notorious Tuol Sleng torture centre in Phnom Penh where thousands died. He was captured in 1999 and is said to be eager to testify against other leaders. Cambodia took a decisive step on Tuesday towards putting on trial those responsible for the deaths of 1.7 million of its people in some of the worst organised atrocities seen since the Second World War. Twenty-six years and four months after the fanatical Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot famously declared “year zero”, sealed the country and killed anyone who questioned his vision of a collectivised agrarian regime, Cambodia is closer than ever to officially accounting for the genocide.The country’s Constitutional Council approved a draft law yesterday providing for the trial of surviving Khmer Rouge leaders accused of crimes against humanity for the “killing fields” of the 1970s. But despite the best efforts of the United States, significant hurdles must be overcome before the start of any trial.The Human Rights Watch advocacy director, Reed Brody, said: “Without the US, this thing wouldn’t be happening. But the real question is whether the Cambodian government has the political will to go ahead.”The most notorious Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot, who led the reign of terror from 1975-79 in which hundreds of thousands of Cambodians died from starvation, forced labour and executions, passed away in a border camp in 1998, untroubled by prosecutors.

His second in command, Nuon Chea, and fellow Khmer Rouge leader Khieu Samphan surrendered to the Cambodian government in December 1998 and now spend their retirement in Pailin, the one-time jungle headquarters of the movement.Two former leaders are in custody ­ Ta Mok, a brutal regional commander nicknamed “The Butcher”, and chief executioner Kang Kek Leu, known as “Duch”, who ran the notorious Tuol Sleng torture centre, where 16,000 Cambodians were killed. But the former Khmer Rouge foreign minister, Leng Sary, was given an amnesty by King Sihanouk in 1996 when he surrendered.Since 1997, the United Nations has been negotiating the establishment of a tribunal with the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen ­ a former cadre of the Khmer Rouge himself. But a memorandum of understanding is still to be finalised and key issues such as the amnesty for former Khmer Rouge leaders remain unresolved.The amnesty question, which will ultimately decide the number of Khmer Rouge leaders to go on trial, was described as “the essence of the negotiations” yesterday. Months of bargaining are expected, although no time-frame has been set.UN officials were surprised by the lack of advance warning that the Constitutional Council would pronounce in favour of the trial. The UN will have to decide whether the latest version of the Cambodian framework law for a UN-assisted tribunal is acceptable to the world body.The Hun Sen government insists that the process must not reopen old wounds but must bring justice for the victims and “peace and reconciliation”.

In February, the Constitutional Council ruled that article three of the original draft law was unconstitutional because it contained a reference to the death penalty, which is banned by Cambodia’s constitution.The government’s drafting committee then altered the article and the revision was recently approved by both houses of parliament, before being sent back to the Constitutional Court. King Sihanouk must now sign the law before the negotiations resume with the UN. Cambodia first asked the UN to help set up a Khmer Rouge trial in 1997 but agreement has been difficult with both sides vying for control. Phnom Penh finally struck a deal last year with the UN on a compromise that would involve holding trials in Cambodia with both local and UN-appointed judges, although some critics are worried that Cambodia’s ill-trained and politically aligned judiciary may not be able to cope with such a complex case.. An elderly white Zimbabwean farmer died on Tuesday from axe wounds he suffered in an attack on his homestead in the Koroi area. Ralph Corbett 76, who was struck on the head, had been in critical condition since Sunday when he was found by a black farmworker on his bedroom floor, his hands bound by wire. An elderly white Zimbabwean farmer died on Tuesday from axe wounds he suffered in an attack on his homestead in the Koroi area.