By Peter Graff
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai promised on Saturday to hold a transparent investigation into allegations three Italian hospital workers were involved in an assassination plot, charges that have caused an outcry in Italy.
The three Italians from the medical charity Emergency were arrested a week ago in Lashkar Gah, capital of Afghanistan's most violent province, Helmand, where their hospital is one of the few independent aid organisations.
Afghan authorities accused them of a plot to kill the provincial governor, Gulab Mangal, and said weapons and suicide bomb vests were found inside the hospital.
Emergency -- which has operated hospitals and health clinics across some of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan even under Taliban rule before 2001 -- has a high profile in Italy and the case has shocked public opinion there.
Karzai met Attilio Iannucci, Italy's special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, on Saturday to discuss the case, Karzai's office said in a statement.
Karzai "emphasised the transparency of the investigation and gave an assurance that the investigation will be carried out according to the constitution," the statement said.
"If the result of the investigation proves the charges, it will be shocking for the Afghan people," it quoted Karzai as telling the Italian envoy. "Also, Karzai said that Italy and Afghanistan have long-standing relations, and the Emergency case will not have a negative effect on relations."
Italy has more than 3,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force fighting a Taliban insurgency in support of Karzai's government.
As in many other NATO countries, Italy's role in the war is a polarising domestic political issue, and the popularity of the mission has been strained in recent months by doubts over whether Karzai's government is a reliable ally.
In Rome, the Italian Foreign Ministry said Iannucci had repeated Italy's request for a prompt clarification of the charges against the three Emergency staff and a guarantee of their right to a fair trial.
It said Karzai had ordered the issue to be placed on the agenda of the next meeting of the National Security Council, expected for Sunday, which he will chair.
Iannucci met the three aid workers on Friday and found them in good physical condition, it said.
(Additional reporting by Yousuf Azimy in Kabul and Reuters staff in Rome; editing by Tim Pearce)
