US "deeply disturbed" over Afghanistan's handling of US journalist

WASHINGTON, Aug 19 (KUNA) -- The United States noted that it is "deeply disturbed" by the actions of the Afghan attorney general who allegedly put a travel ban against New York Times reporter, Matthew Rosenberg, preventing him from leaving Afghanistan.
The US urged "the Afghan government to respect fundamental freedoms of expression and expression of the press," said State Department Deputy Spokesperson Marie Harf to reporters Tuesday. She noted that the US Administration has been in contact with the New York Times and is trying to gather more information about what the travel ban entails.
According to the New York Times, Rosenberg has been a three-year veteran of the newspaper's office in Kabul when he was told to go to the attorney general's office for an "informal chat" about an article he published that day.
The Times indicated the article was about, "powerful figures in the Afghan government were discussing the formation of a temporary governing committee as a way to break the deadlock that followed national elections." Harf highlighted that the two Afghan presidential candidate have both agreed to an audit process that is still ongoing. She added, "We never thought this would be without complications but it is moving forward. So I want to hesitate a little bit before we link the two because we don't have all the facts about the New York Times reporter situation." (end) ak.rk