S P O T L I G H T

Taliban’s ex-envoy to Pak deported
Islamabad, January 5
Pakistan has deported a former ambassador of Afghanistan’s vanquished Taliban regime in Islamabad, a Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman said today. “He was asked to leave the country which he did,” spokesman Aziz Ahmed Khan told a regular press briefing at the Foreign Ministry. Mulla Abdul Salam Zaeef was Taliban’s last ambassador in the Pakistani capital before the militia’s rule crumbled under the weight of a US-led military campaign. Zaeef had applied for asylum in Pakistan. DPA

US commando killed
Washington, January 5
A US Army “green beret” has been killed in a firefight in eastern Afghanistan, becoming the first US serviceman to lose his life to hostile fire since the start of the US campaign nearly three months ago, US military officials said. A CIA official was wounded in the clash yesterday, a US official said, adding that his prognosis was good. The elite US Army soldier killed in the firefight was identified by the Pentagon as Sergeant First Class Nathan Ross Chapman. He was 31. Ten other Americans have died in Afghanistan and surrounding areas during this conflict. Chapman was working with tribal groups in the area of Gardez-Khost when the firefight broke out, US commander Gen Tommy Franks said. He said casualties suffered by the other side were unknown. AFP, Reuters

US Army Special Forces soldier Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, 31, (L), is shown in an undated family portrait. Pictured with Chapman are his wife Renae, daughter Amanda (2) and son Brandon (1). — Reuters/handout