FED: Pratt shoulders blame for spying, says CARE

AAP General News (Australia)
04-12-1999
FED: Pratt shoulders blame for spying, says CARE

CANBERRA, April 12 AAP - Detained CARE Australia aid worker Steve Pratt was protecting his
Yugoslavian staff by taking any blame for spying allegations, CARE Australia said today.

CARE Australia overseas operations head Robert Yallop said Mr Pratt had absolutely not been
involved in espionage.

Mr Yallop said Mr Pratt had sounded under incredible stress when making the alleged
confession on Serbian television.

"There is no question whatsoever in my mind that there is an unbelievable amount of duress
that's been placed upon Steve in making those statements," he told ABC Radio.

"In his reference to the local staff it's very clear to me that Steve facing that duress
has taken the course that if anyone is going to be accused of anything it will be him, not
anyone else, a very laudable action."

But Mr Yallop denied any local staff had been involved in intelligence activities.

He said Mr Pratt had been providing aid to both Serbian and Kosovo Albanian refugees, and
had worked for CARE Australia since 1993 in some of the most difficult environments of
humanitarian work in the world.

"Any suggestion that Steve is anything other than a humanitarian aid worker I find
absolutely abhorrent," Mr Yallop said.

He said aid workers were never asked to gather information.

"Even if any request was ever made there is no way that any staff of CARE Australia would
be involved in doing so," Mr Yallop said.

"There's obviously a need that organisations like CARE have for information in relationship
to the health of people, where water supply exists and so on, but under no circumstances is
any information ever passed to any government or any parties within a conflict."

He had no news of Mr Pratt's colleague Peter Wallace, 30, of Mackay, since the news on
Friday that the pair were safe and well, the first news since they were detained on March 31
when leaving Belgrade for Montenegro.

AAP fh/bm/br

KEYWORD: KOSOVO CARE YALLOP

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