Relatives of two American aid workers held by the ruling Taliban on charges of promoting Christianity in Afghanistan said yesterday they were hopeful of frequent visits with the detainees.
Western diplomats are in Kabul urging the Taliban to give more access to eight detained aid workers - four Germans, two Americans and two Australians.
Yesterday, the Taliban said it had finished preliminary investigations into the German-based Christian relief agency Shelter Now International (SNI) and it would hold a trial.
The detainees were visited by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) on Sunday and by the diplomats and by the mother of one detained American and the father of the other on Sunday.
"We are now working very closely with the ministry of foreign affairs to get back in to see our daughters on a more frequent basis and everything is going on very well," said the father.
The parents declined to give their names, but their daughters have been identified by German authorities as Ms Heather Mercer and Ms Diana Curry. "We arrived here on Monday and we were very warmly treated by the Taliban authorities. They immediately allowed us to see our daughters. They were in good health and good spirits," he said. The ICRC said it had delivered assistance to the detainees, but declined to give details, saying it was a routine procedure.
The three Pakistan-based diplomats from Australia, the US and Germany expected to have further meetings with the Taliban foreign ministry yesterday.
Mr Abdul Rehman Hotak, head of the Taliban's consular department, said he had told the diplomats that UN sanctions against the Taliban - which include an arms embargo, financial restrictions and limits on Taliban movements abroad - were driving Afghans to become refugees.
"We discussed it with the US diplomat yesterday that they should once again think about sanctions against the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan," he said.
The diplomats have so far failed to secure a second visit to the foreign detainees and emerged from Tuesday's second meeting tight-lipped.
Twenty-four staff - the foreigners and 16 Afghans - from SNI were arrested on charges of proselytising. There has been no access to the arrested Afghans.
The arrests followed months of worsening ties between the Taliban and the aid groups helping millions of Afghans cope with more than two decades of war and a devastating drought. The Taliban has begun a wider probe into other aid agencies.
Under its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law, the death penalty could be handed to anyone convicted of abandoning Islam or encouraging someone to convert to Christianity.