Taliban militants holding 21 Koreans hostage in Afghanistan have
again extended the deadline for killing one of them of 4:30 pm KST
(3.30pm SG Time) Wednesday to engage in further negotiations, and
will allow South Korean negotiators there to meet the hostages, the
Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported.
Korea in Direct Contact With Taliban
Seoul Negotiators to Meet Hostages
08-01-2007 16:45 SG Time
By Kim Yon-se, Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporters
Taliban militants holding 21 Koreans hostage in Afghanistan have
again extended the deadline for killing one of them of 4:30 p.m.
Wednesday (KST) to engage in further negotiations, and will allow
South Korean negotiators there to meet the hostages, the Afghan
Islamic Press (AIP) reported.
Meanwhile the presidential office said the Korean government is in
``direct'' negotiations with the Taliban.
Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said, ``We are contacting the
Taliban both indirectly and directly, though it is difficult to
make public the level and channels of negotiations.''
Qari Muhammad Yousaf Ahamdi, the purported Taliban spokesman, said
after the tenth deadline was extended that the killing of the
hosstages will continue until their demand for an exchange with
Afghan-held prisoners is met.
The Taliban have already killed two male hostages, the leader of
the Christian aid group Rev. Bae Hyun-kyu, 42, on July 25 and Shim
Sung-min, 29, on July 30, saying that their deaths were the result
of the insincere attitude of Afghan and Korean negotiators.
But the Afghan government reiterated that it can't accept the swap
deal for fear of international criticism.
Humayun Hamidzada, the spokesman of Afghan President Hamid Karzai,
said that officials in Kabul were doing everything they can to
secure the hostages' release but that freeing militant prisoners
was not an option.
The United Stages also affirmed Tuesday its policy of not
negotiating with terrorists.
``It remains U.S. policy not to make concessions to terrorists,''
said Tom Casey, deputy spokesman of the Department of State, in a
daily press briefing. ``Again, the policy as written over the past
20 years or so is to not make concessions to terrorists and that
remains our view.''
Baek Jong-chun, who was dispatched to Afghanistan as a special
presidential envoy, will travel to Pakistan to solicit support for
the release of the Koreans, presidential spokesman Cheon
said.
``Pakistan is one of our allies, which could help us,'' he said.
``There is a possibility that Baek will meet with high-ranking
officials there.''
Cheon also reiterated that the U.S. government has already promised
that it will not take military action against the Taliban as long
as there is no consent from Korea, dismissing the possibility of a
rescue operation.
He made it clear that Korea will maintain dialogue and negotiations
with patience.
As the 21 hostages passed a 14th day in captivity, some of them
appeared to be sick. The Yonhap News Agency reported that two women
are seriously ill and may die if they fail to get proper medical
assistance.
Ahamdi also told the AIP that the two would be released if the
Afghan government frees two Taliban prisoners.
The Korean government sent food and medical supplies to the
provincial government of Ghazni where the Koreans were kidnapped
and they were delivered to the hostages, officials in Seoul
said.
Meanwhile, CBS said that the Taliban may stop killing the hostages,
quoting a senior commander of the Taliban involved in the
negotiations.
The commander said that the Afghan government is under extreme
pressure and the Taliban want this crisis to continue.
However, there seems to be division among the militants on how to
treat the hostages.
A supreme council of the Taliban was held Monday to decide whether
to kill the hostages one by one, or collectively, or release them,
and was reported to have chosed to kill them one by one. The second
killing was conducted right after the meeting, according to sources
in Kabul.
The remaining Korean abductees _ 18 women and three men, mostly in
their 20s and 30s _ went to Afghanistan on July 13 to offer
volunteer medical services. Most of them are members of the Saemmul
Community Church in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.
