MOSCOW, March 13 (RAPSI) – US authorities have yet to notify Russia about the detention of Russian national Irek Hamidullan in Afghanistan on suspicion of fighting for the Taliban, a Russian Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday.
Konstantin Dolgov, a senior ministry official on human rights, said in a statement posted online that Hamidullan was reportedly detained by coalition forces in the Afghan city Khost in 2009.
“We have yet to receive official notification of this Russian national's arrest from our American counterparts,” he said. “Attempts by the Russian embassy in Kabul to visit Hamidullan have been unsuccessful.”
According to Dolgov, Russian representatives have visited the Bagram air base, where Hamidullan is believed to be held, “but were told that he did not want to meet with them.”
The Washington Post reported in December 2013 that Irek Hamidullan, a veteran of the Soviet war in Afghanistan in the 1980s, had deserted and joined the extremist organization At-Takfir val-Hijra.
He reportedly traveled to Afghanistan in 1999 and fought in battles against US troops following the invasion of the country by a US-led coalition in 2001. He is suspected of participating in several attacks in 2009 that killed and wounded US servicemen.
According to the Washington Post, US officials said that they have discussed the case with Moscow but Russia has displayed little interest in his return, citing sources in the White House who said no official decision on his fate has yet been made and several options remain on the table.
