The Kalash valley is still without one of its citizens – a Greek volunteer who was kidnapped in September and who was the leading light in the development of the Kalash Cultural Centre that has become a local focus for the preservation of Kalash life and culture. Athanasios Lerounis was taken in the dead of night, one of his guards was killed and he was reported to have been taken over the border into Afghanistan. Who took him and why largely remains a mystery. The last that was heard of him was a report in early October which said that he was in the hands of Afghan militants in Nuristan province. A delegation of elders from Chitral had gone for a second time to seek his release and they came back with three letters to the Pakistan government from the captive which explained that he was a philanthropist; only serving the people of the Kalash valley in order to bring them clean drinking water, education and health facilities. He had no political or other connections or motives, and the people of Greece and the Greek government have expressed rising levels of alarm that he remains a captive today.

Those holding him are said to be ‘Taliban’ – which could mean any one of a dozen things and groups. They are demanding $2 million as ransom and in one of his letters Lerounis says that he will have to suffer the consequences if the government does not heed the demand. We do not need this spelling out for us. An innocent man, come here to support one of our tiniest minorities, may see his life forfeit for a couple of million dollars. He has brought to the Kalash valley over the last fourteen years far more than could ever be counted in purely financial terms, and is loved and respected by the people he came to help. Winter is now closing the passes over into Afghanistan and movement will be difficult until next spring. At the very least there should be an effort to contact him before snowfall makes it impossible. --(The News)

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