GARDEZ, Aug 25 (Pajhwok Afghan News): A Russian man, disguised as a woman, was arrested during a search in the restive southeastern province of Paktia Saturday afternoon.

Governor Rehmatullah Rehmat produced the detainee - named Andrei - before tribal elders at the governor's house here. Afghanistan's foes were in an effort to steal into the country for disruptive activities, Rehmat alleged.

The suspect insisted he had arrived in Afghanistan to return to his country, and that he did not want to support militants or perpetrate violence against anyone. However, he would not say what prompted him to put on women's clothes.

Officials claimed it was the first time that a Russian national had sneaked from Pakistan into Afghanistan, where miscreants from different countries had been held occasionally on charges of having links to rebels.

The lanky man, in an exclusive chat with Pajhwok Afghan News, said he was a resident of Siberia. Sporting a long beard, the 28-year-old added he had embraced Islam.

Initially, he went to Egypt for receiving religious education. Later on, the young man moved to Iran for higher Islamic studies. Prior to his entry into Afghanistan, he was studying in a Pakistani seminary.

Andrei continued he spent some time in the southern port city of Karachi before shifting to Mir Ali town of Waziristan, lying close to the Pak-Afghan border. He lived in Pakistan's troubled northwestern tribal region for six months.

From Mir Ali, he managed to enter Khost in an effort to reach Kabul. The detainee planned to go from the Afghan capital to Tajikistan and then to Russia.

The governor hinted at showing Kabul-based journalists the man after he was grilled by law-enforcement personnel. Also apprehended with Andrei are two Afghans from Charasiab district of Kabul.

According to the Afghans, they were handed over the Russian citizen by a man in Khost. The unnamed 'man' asked the detainees to take the foreigner - unfamiliar with roads and streets in Afghanistan - to Kabul in exchange for money.

Reported by Syed Jamal Asifkhel

Translated & edited by S. Mudassir Ali Shah