protester (C) collects posters of the remaining 21 South Koreans held hostage in Afghanistan after a rally near the U.S. embassy in Seoul to demand negotiations between the U.S. government and the Taliban for the safe return of the hostages August 3, 2007. A South Korean delegation arrived on Thursday in the Afghan province where 21 Koreans are held hostage in an attempt to hold direct talks with Taliban kidnappers and peacefully end the two-week ordeal. REUTERS/Han Jae-Ho (SOUTH KOREA)
Taliban accepts face-to-face talks with S. Korean government
The Taliban accepted to hold face-to- face talks with the South Korean government on 21 hostages, a purported Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told Xinhua from an undisclosed place on Thursday.
Ahmadi said the Taliban is disappointed with the Afghan government as it did not show sincerity in the negotiations.
He also said 16 hostages are not in good condition, while two female hostages are in very serious condition.
Earlier Thursday, some media reports quoted Afghan officials as saying South Korean diplomats in Afghanistan were seeking face-to- face talks with the Taliban.
Meanwhile, Sharif Mangal, spokesman for Ghazni governor, told Xinhua that local tribal elders are facilitating and seeking a place for a direct meeting between Taliban commanders and the South Koran ambassador to Kabul.
Waheedullah Mujadidi, chief negotiator for a delegation of local tribal elders talking with the Taliban, said he had resigned from his job as the Afghan government failed to ensure his security. "Some bombs were found before my house," he said.
Taliban rebels killed two male South Korean hostages on July 25 and July 30 separately to press Afghan and South Korean authorities to meet their demands.
Up to now, the Afghan government has not agreed to release Taliban prisoners as the Taliban has demanded to exchange for the hostages.
A total of 23 South Koreans were kidnapped by Taliban militants on a road in the central Ghazni province on July 19.
Source: Xinhua
Body of second slain S. Korean hostage back home
The body of Shim Sung-min, who was killed by Afghan kidnappers Monday, was transported to South Korea on Thursday.
Shim, kidnapped by militants in Afghanistan with 22 other South Koreans on July 19, was found shot dead in central Afghanistan Tuesday, five days after another South Korean hostage was executed.
Shim's body arrived at the freight terminal of Incheon International Airport aboard an Emirates flight and was received by his tearful younger brother Hyo-min and officials from the church that organized the trip, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported.
Shim's family said Shim's body will be donated for medical research after a funeral ceremony on Saturday.
The Taliban are still holding the remaining 21 hostages and warned of more killings if the Afghan government does not release jailed Taliban members.
Source: Xinhua
Foreign Muslims look at the South Korean conservative activists' protest, demanding the safe return of Korean hostages in Afghanistan, after their Friday prayers in front of a mosque in Seoul August 3, 2007. A South Korean delegation arrived on Thursday in the Afghan province where 21 Koreans are held hostage in an attempt to hold direct talks with Taliban kidnappers and peacefully end the two-week ordeal. REUTERS/Han Jae-Ho (SOUTH KOREA)
U.S. vows to win release of South Korean hostages
The United States said Thursday that it will make "all pressures need" to free South Korean hostages held by the Taliban militants in Afghanistan.
"All pressures need to be applied to the Taliban to get them to release these hostages," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said.
He said the United States will have cooperation with Afghanistan and South Korea "to get these people released unharmed, to get them released peacefully and safely."
Boucher declined to elaborate on what pressures or efforts were being used or considered but said they included the option of military force.
Boucher made the remarks ahead of a weekend visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will meet with U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David.
The coming U.S.-Afghan summit is expected to discuss some issues of mutual interests including the war on terror, counter narcotics and the U.S. contribution towards rebuilding of the post- Taliban Afghanistan.
Taliban militants abducted 23 South Koreans on July 19, and have shot dead two of them so far. They threatened to execute the remaining if the Afghan government fails to meet their demand which includes the release of their eight Taliban comrades.
Source: Xinhua
Seoul seeks direct talks with Taliban
A South Korean delegation arrived yesterday in the Afghan province where 21 Koreans are held hostage in an attempt to hold direct talks with Taliban kidnappers and peacefully end the two-week ordeal.
The Taliban have killed two Korean hostages, accusing the Afghan government of not negotiating in good faith and ignoring their demand to release rebel prisoners. The Taliban have insisted on direct talks with the Koreans, but Seoul has no power to free prisoners from Afghan jails.
"The team, including the Korean ambassador, which has come for the release of Korean nationals, say they have come to speak to the Taliban about choosing a venue for talks," Ghazni Provincial Governor Mirajuddin Pathan told reporters.
"They say they have come to hold direct talks with the Taliban," he said.
The Taliban kidnapped 23 South Korean church volunteers, 18 of them women, in Ghazni province on the main road south from Kabul on July 20. Two male Koreans have since been killed.
The South Korean government is under intense pressure to bring the captives home, but has no power to meet the key Taliban demand - the release of rebel prisoners.
The Afghan government has refused to give in to the demand, saying that would only encourage further abductions.
Instead, Seoul has gone on a diplomatic offensive to try to find a way out of the crisis that avoids either a risky military rescue bid or further Taliban killings of captives.
South Korea and the United States, which has more than 20,000 troops in Afghanistan, agreed not to use force to free the hostages, but Afghan troops also warned villagers of a possible offensive in the area where the captives are held.
Source: China Daily/agencies
S.Korea denies to give ransom to Afghan kidnappers
The South Korean government has never paid money to Taliban militants for the safe of South Korean hostages, said South Korean Presidential Spokesman Cheon Ho-seon on Friday.
Cheon made the remarks in response to a report by the weekly magazine Newsweek, which cited an alleged senior Taliban commander as saying that a Taliban group received money from South Korea after the kidnapping. It also reported that a South Korean envoy, a Ghazni member of Afghan parliament and some government negotiators may have been talking to the Taliban group.
"The Newsweek report is groundless," Cheon said.
"The South Korean government is not in a position to give a direct answer to the Taliban's demand that its prisoners be swapped for South Korean hostages. Through the direct contacts, we intend to stress that our capabilities to meet Taliban demands are limited," he added.
Taliban militants kidnapped 23 South Koreans in Ghazni on July 19. They have killed two South Korean hostages so far.
Source: Xinhua
Withdrawal of S.Korean troops from Afghanistan to be conducted as schedule: S.Korean official
South Korean Presidential Envoy for the hostage issue in Afghanistan said Friday that the withdrawal of South Korean troops from Afghanistan would be implemented by the end of this year as scheduled.
Baek Jong-chun, who returned from Afghanistan without apparent progress in the solution of the hostage issue in Afghanistan, told reporters upon his arrival to the Incheon International Airport that South Korea will not change its schedule of the pullout of its troops despite the Afghan kidnappers demand an immediate withdrawal.
Baek said the South Korean government is still determined to do its utmost to secure the release of the hostages through direct contacts with the Taliban.
"I met with Afghanistan's president and key cabinet ministers in Kabul and obtained their agreement to do their best for the swift release of the Korean hostages," said Baek, who is also the chief secretary to President Roh Moo-hyun for foreign and security policy.
"I'll disclose more details later. I want the media to approach the hostage crisis more carefully as many lives are at stake," he said.
On the way back to South Korean, Baek paid a brief visit to Pakistan and met with officials there. But Baek didn't give any comments on his visit to Pakistan. South Korea's Presidential Office said Thursday that Baek visited Pakistan was aimed at seeking Pakistan's cooperation in the hostage issue.
Baek left for Kabul on July 26 and left there on Aug. 1.
Source: Xinhua
S.Korean political leaders to visit U.S. to seek resolution on hostage crisis
South Korean political leaders announced on Wednesday their plan to travel to the United States this week to seek resolution for the release of 21 South Korean hostages in Afghanistan.
"We politely appeal to the U.S. government and the United Nations to shift their stance and help prevent these imminent killings," said leaders of five major South Korean political parties at a joint statement.
The party leaders issued the statement after a rare emergency meeting here.
"The humanitarian support is desperately needed from the international community in order to save the lives of these innocent civilians," the statement said.
Afghan militants demanded for release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for the release of South Korean hostages. However, the Afghanistan government has repeatedly announced not to conduct any prisoner-for-hostage deal with the kidnappers. The South Korean political party leaders' statement and their planned U.S. visit are widely regarded as an effort to urge the U.S. side for more flexibility on the hostage crisis.
According to the local media, the party leaders are expected to leave for Washington as early as Thursday and will meet with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and UN. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to discuss the hostage issue.
They also plan to visit Afghanistan or other concerned Asian countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan after the trip to the U.S., said local reports.
A total of 23 South Koreans were held as hostages in Afghanistan on July 19. The kidnappers have executed two male hostages so far as a warning to the South Korean and Afghan government.
The families of the hostages on Wednesday visited the U.S. embassy in Seoul to appeal for U.S. help in resolving the hostage issue.
Source: Xinhua
S.Korea denies meeting between hostages and S.Korean negotiators
The South Korean government on Wednesday denied a report that South Korean negotiators will meet with South Korean hostages in Afghanistan.
South Korean government negotiators have been stationed in the southern Afghan province of Gazni since the beginning of the hostage crisis, said an official of the Presidential Office.
The negotiators have never received any notice from the Taliban that they would be allowed to meet with the hostages, he added.
An earlier report by the Afghan Islamic Press said that South Korean negotiators would be permitted to meet with South Korean hostages.
A total of 23 South Koreans were kidnapped by Taliban militants on July 19. The militants killed two male hostages separately on July 25 and July 30 and threatening to kill more hostages if their demand was not fulfilled.
Source: Xinhua
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