By Chinelo Onwualu

National-World News Co-Editor

The French journalist, Michel Peyrard, who was detained by the Taliban and released on Saturday, said that he was treated fairly and given food but that the jails were filled with political prisoners. The reporter for the French newspaper Paris-Match was arrested on Oct. 9 along with two Pakistani colleagues after he had slipped into the country dressed in the head-to-toe burqa of Afghan women.

Taliban authorities felt that he had committed a grave offence by insulting Afghan women with his disguise. At the time of his apprehension Peyrard said he had crossed into Afghanistan without a visa and knew he might be arrested. The Taliban government threatened to try him as a spy, a crime that carries a sentence of death.

Peyrard was held for more than three weeks in the eastern city of Jalalabad. In that time, he was able to interview several political prisoners, many of whom were allies of the government now suspected of supporting the United States.

According to Peyrard, many members of smaller Islamic factions are being detained in great numbers at the same facility where he was held.

``Every day another five or six commanders were brought in for interrogation,'' he said.

He also says he saw numerous signs of civil disobedience. ``One of the prisoners in the Detention Center had been arrested because he decided to shave, which was suicidal for him.'' Afghan men have to grow beards as part of the law..

``He was arrested, but he explained to me that it was the only way for him to express his disagreement with the regime.''

As for the current mood in the country, Peyrard noted that the atmosphere had gone from one of worry at the beginning of the bombings to one of relative optimism as the United States showed no immediate signs of launching ground forces.

This is not the first instance of reporters being held by the Taliban. Another French journalist, Aziz Zemouri of the Le Figaro magazine, was arrested and handed over to Pakistani officials after five days, and last month