Conflicting claims on Taliban-held Korean hostages
Sat Aug 11, 2007 2:28PM EDT
By Akram Walizada
GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban said on
Saturday they had freed two female South Korean hostages, but local
and national government officials said they had no knowledge of
such a release.
"Today at 6.30 pm (1330 GMT), we released two of the female Korean
hostages who were seriously ill, without any condition," Taliban
spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an
unknown location.
"It's possible that at any moment they will reach Ghazni, it all
depends on the transport. As far as we are concerned, they are free
... It's a gesture of good faith to the people of Korea and to the
Korean delegation in Afghanistan."
However, the governor of Ghazni province, where the group of Korean
church volunteers were seized on July 20 and are thought to be
held, and a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai said they
had no knowledge of any release.
