Afghanistan's Taliban foreign minister said today he had no knowledge of a plan to swap eight foreign Christian detainees for a militant Muslim cleric jailed in the United States.
When asked at a news conference whether the Taliban had received a letter proposing the swap from relatives of Sheikh Omar Abdel-Rahman, jailed for life in the United States for terrorism, Mr Wakil Ahmad Muttawakil said: "Not so far".
When asked if the Taliban were in negotiations with Washington on the deal he said: "No".
Islamist sources outside Afghanistan have said the Taliban might be willing to free the eight aid workers if Washington allowed Sheikh Omar to go to Afghanistan. They said the Taliban's reaction had been passed to US authorities.
Mr Muttawakil also said the hardline movement was going to enforce rules applied to aid groups and the United Nations in Afghanistan.
He said all foreign agencies could now only hire staff approved by the foreign ministry and that all funds would have to be channeled through the National Bank.