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Shyam Bhatia in London
A British woman reporter has become the first foreign journalist to be arrested by the Taleban since the start of the current crisis.
Taleban officials quoted by the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press said Yvonne Ridley, a reporter for The Sunday Express, was arrested for trying to enter Afghanistan illegally.
She was apparently dressed in Afghan clothes and her head was swathed in a scarf.
The AIP quoted a Taleban spokesman as saying that Ridley and two Afghan guides had been arrested near Jalalabad, in eastern Afghanistan.
A spokeswoman for the Express Newspapers in London has confirmed the arrest.
Martin Townsend, editor of The Sunday Express, said, "We are seeking an urgent clarification of the exact position and are co-operating fully with the foreign office in securing the quick and safe release of our journalist."
The agency quoted Taleban authorities as saying the woman was not carrying a passport or any other travel documents.
A spokesman for the British high commission in Islamabad, the Pakistan capital, said he had no information on the report.
Ridley had been writing reports for both The Sunday Express and The Daily Express from Peshawar and Islamabad.
A former assistant editor of the Sunday Sun based in Newcastle, Ridley's family is from nearby Stanley in Durham county north of London.
Ex-colleague Colin Patterson, the Sunday Sun's deputy editor, said, "She is a very warm, very gregarious sort of person. She is very determined and tenacious."
Meanwhile, in London a court has heard allegations that Algerian pilot Lotfi Raissi was an instructor for four of the hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks on the US.
The allegations were made by prosecutor Arvinda Sambir during an extradition hearing at the Bow Street magistrate's court.
The hearing was held on Friday after Raissi, who was originally detained on September 21 by anti-terrorism detectives, was re-arrested by police at the request of the American authorities.
District Judge Nicholas Evans said Raissi should remain in custody and appear before the court again on October 5.
Outside the court Raissi's solicitor Richard Egan said his client was subject to a US government request for his arrest on charges of giving false information.
"Whether that is the full extent of their request remains to be seen," Egan added. "He adamantly denied any involvement in the recent appalling tragedy and he is confident he will be absolved of all involvement."
Raissi's relatives say he has flown jets in the US for several years and was undergoing further training at Heathrow.
Police spent two days searching his ground floor flat in Berkshire, west of London, and took a number of items away for further examination, including flying manuals.
The Attack on America: The Complete Coverage
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