American professor seriously ill in Taliban captivity (Lead)

Kabul Oct 30 (IANS) The Afghan Taliban on Monday said that one of two professors from the American University of Afghanistan who were kidnapped last year is "seriously ill" and needs urgent medical attention.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Kevin King an American was suffering from "dangerous" heart disease and kidney problem. "His illness has intensified his feet have swollen and sometimes he becomes unconscious and his condition worsens every day " Mujahid said in a statement. "We have tried to treat him time to time but we do not have medical facilities as we are in a war situation " he added. King and his Australian colleague Timothy Weeks were kidnapped in August 2016 as they were returning to their base in Kabul. The statement came around two weeks after Pakistani troops rescued a North American family who had been held by the Haqqanis since 2012. Earlier this year the Taliban released a video of King and Weeks showing them pleading with their government to release Taliban prisoners in turn for their freedom. --IANS ahm/mr