Three Cups of Tea author rejects fabrication claim

Apr 18, 2011, 21:02 GMT

Los Angeles - Three Cups of Tea author Greg Mortenson rejected Monday reports that called into question crucial details of his best-selling memoir about his efforts building schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The allegations, which aired Sunday night on TV news show 60 Minutes as well as in a lengthy expose by best-selling author Jon Krakauer, dispute many of the key passage in the book and also allege that Mortenson has misused millions of dollars in donations.

The assertions dispute Mortenson's account of how he stumbled alone into the remote Pakistani village of Korphe following a failed attempt to climb mountain K2 in 1993. He then promised to return to build a girls' school there.

The experience provided the basis for the foundation of Mortenson's Central Asia Institute, which has since raised millions of dollars to build hundreds of schools in the region. It has also become a highly valued ally in the US military's efforts to defeat the Taliban by improving living conditions for the local population. According to the allegations, the porters who accompanied Mortenson on that trip said he didn't visit Korphe until one year later.

The critiques also question Mortenson's claim that he was kidnapped and held for eight days by the Taliban before being released, tracking down some of the alleged kidnappers who said they were acting as his 'protectors' when the incident allegedly took place in 1996.

In a posting Monday on the website of the Central Asian Institute, Mortenson denied the accusations.

'I stand by the information conveyed in my book, and by the value of CAI's work in empowering local communities to build and operate schools that have educated more than 60,000 students,' he said.

Mortenson said the account of his experiences in Korphe 'was a compressed version of events' that took place in 1993 and that local people's different concept of time could explain the misunderstanding.

Mortenson insisted that he was held against his will in Waziristan in 1996, though shifting tribal loyalties may explain the conflicting version of events.

He also maintained that the fraud allegations were fabricated by a disgruntled former manager, and that some of the money raised by CAI had been used to build an endowment rather than channeled directly into school construction.

'I hope these allegations and attacks, the people doing these things, know this could be devastating for tens of thousands of girls, for the sake of Nielsen ratings and Emmys,' Mortenson said.

Viking, the book's publisher, said in a statement Monday that in the wake of the report, it will review the book's contents with Mortenson.

Read more about Afghanistan

Read more about US Media