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Thousands Protest in Brussels Demanding Release of Belgian Aid Worker in Iran

Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)
Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)
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Thousands Protest in Brussels Demanding Release of Belgian Aid Worker in Iran

Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)
Demonstrators hold a banner with the portrait of detained Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, as they take part in a solidarity rally organized by Human rights group Amnesty International and a support committee to ask for his liberation, in Brussels on January 22, 2023. (AFP)

Thousands of people took to the streets of Brussels on Sunday to protest against the detention in Iran of Belgian aid worker Olivier Vandecasteele, who was sentenced to 40 years in prison on charges including spying.

The Belgian government has said the charges are fake.

"His life is in danger, contribute to his freedom," "#Free Olivier Vandecasteele," read banners held by protesters who included Vandecasteele's family, friends and colleagues.

After Vandecasteele was sentenced last month, Belgium's justice minister said the Belgian had been imprisoned "for a fabricated series of crimes" and had been sentenced as retribution for a 20-year jail term Belgian courts imposed on an Iranian diplomat in 2021.

Belgium's constitutional court will next month hold a hearing on the legality of a Belgian prisoner exchange treaty with Iran.

Belgian media has suggested this could lead to a prisoner swap between the two countries involving the Iranian diplomat, convicted of planning a bomb plot against an exiled opposition group, and Vandecasteele.

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Taliban Say India Is a ‘Significant Regional Partner’ after Meeting

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP
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Taliban Say India Is a ‘Significant Regional Partner’ after Meeting

Photo: AFP
Photo: AFP

The Taliban's foreign office said they saw India as a "significant regional and economic partner" after meeting with its most senior foreign ministry official, the highest level talks with Delhi since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
India's Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri met acting Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Dubai on Wednesday.
Afghanistan's foreign ministry said in a statement that they had discussed expanding relations with Afghanistan and to boost trade through Chabahar Port in Iran, which India has been developing for goods to bypass the ports of Karachi and Gwadar in its rival Pakistan, Reuters reported.
"In line with Afghanistan's balanced and economy-focused foreign policy, the Islamic Emirate aims to strengthen political and economic ties with India as a significant regional and economic partner," the statement from Afghanistan's foreign ministry said late on Wednesday.
India's foreign ministry said after the Delhi meeting that India was considering engaging in development projects in Afghanistan and looking to boost trade ties.
No foreign government, including India, officially recognizes the Taliban administration.
However, India is one of several countries with a small mission in Kabul to facilitate trade, aid and medical support and has sent humanitarian aid to Afghanistan under the Taliban.
Regional players including China and Russia have signaled they are willing to boost trade and investment in Afghanistan.
The Delhi meeting could ruffle Pakistan, which borders both countries and has fought three wars in the past against India.
Pakistan and Afghanistan also have a strained relationship, with Pakistan saying that several militant attacks that have occurred in its country have been launched from Afghan soil - a charge the Afghan Taliban denies.
Earlier this week India's foreign office told journalists they condemned airstrikes conducted late last year by Pakistan on Afghan soil.