Italian aid organization Emergency pulled its international staff out of Afghanistan amid a quarrel with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, local media reported on Wednesday.

Emergency, which played a crucial role in securing the release of a kidnapped Italian journalist, said in a statement on Wednesday it had flown some 40 non-Afghan aid workers to Dubai.

"Emergency has been obliged to temporarily withdraw its international staff from Afghanistan for reasons of security," the statement said.

The head of Afghan secret services, Amrullah Saleh, has accused Emergency of "supporting terrorists," singling out in particular the Afghan director of the organization's hospital in Lashkar Gah, Rahmatullah Hanefi, reports said.

Rahmatullah Hanefi acted as mediator in negotiations with Taliban guerrillas holding Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who was released on March 19.

Soon afterwards Hanefi was arrested by Afghan police and he is currently being held in Kabul.

Emergency's founder and head, Gino Strada, railed against Prodi Monday for doing too little to secure Hanefi's release, accusing him of taking a "Pontius Pilate approach."

Strada also accused Prodi of doing little to win the release of Mastrogiacomo's interpreter Adjmal Nashkbandi, who was supposed to have been released with the Italian but who was held for another two weeks and then decapitated on Sunday.

Prodi has said the government did everything possible to help Nashkbandi.

Emergency, which runs about 35 clinics and hospitals all over Afghanistan, said that these facilities would continue to function with a limited capacity thanks to local staff.

Source: Xinhua