Aid worker murdered for her beliefs

Gayle Williams, 34, was shot dead by two gunmen on a motorcycle as she walked to work in the capital, Kabul.

She had spent about two years in the troubled country helping mentally handicapped Afghans as a volunteer with UK-registered Christian charity Serve Afghanistan.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the shooting saying she was killed because she was trying to spread Christianity in the conservative Islamic nation.

But Mike Lyth, chairman of the board of Serve Afghanistan, rejected this and insisted Ms Williams was only in Afghanistan to offer aid to people in need.

"We are Christians - that is what gives us the motivation to go into a dangerous and difficult country to try to help," he said. "But she was not involved in proselytisation."

Kabul-based colleagues of the murdered aid worker paid tribute to her "plucky adventurous spirit" and good-humoured dedication to caring for others.

They said in a joint statement: "Gayle will be remembered as one of the inspiring people of the world who truly put others before herself. She was killed violently while caring for the most forgotten people in the world - the poor and the disabled.

"She herself would not regret taking the risk of working in Afghanistan. She was where she wanted to be - holding out a helping hand to those in need."

Ms Williams had nearly reached Serve Afghanistan's office in Kabul when two men shot her several times in the leg and torso before speeding off on a motorcycle at about 8am local time. She was found dead by another member of the charity's staff shortly afterwards.