Prisoners moved from Afghan jail

Many Taleban fighters were caught at Kunduz in 2001

The authorities in Afghanistan have started to move hundreds of suspected Taleban prisoners from a notorious jail in the north of the country to Kabul.

The first group of over 60 men have arrived in the capital - many of them reportedly suffering from tuberculosis.

About 900 prisoners, half of whom are reported to be Pakistani nationals, staged a riot in Sheberghan prison last week, in protest at conditions.

They have been held without trial since the fall of the Taleban in late 2001.

The prisoners were captured by forces of the ethnic Uzbek general, Abdul Rashid Dostum, during the US offensive which ousted the Taleban.

General Dostum told the BBC that he was happy to abide by the central government's decision to move the prisoners to Kabul.

'Malnutrition'

Diplomatic sources in Kabul told BBC News Online the prisoners had been taken to the Pul-e-Charkhi jail outside the capital.

Most of them are thought to be Pakistanis, and Islamabad wants them sent back - as hundreds of others have been in the last 18 months.

On Monday, Pakistan's ambassador in Kabul told the BBC Pashto service many of the prisoners were not only suffering from tuberculosis, but were malnourished as well.

President Hamid Karzai's government has sent a team of officials to see conditions for themselves inside Sheberghan.

Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said there were several reasons for the protest.

"The poor condition of the prison, food and other difficulties, and above all their destiny are among them," he told Reuters news agency.