--Taliban Not Hostile to Korea, Captives
By Emal Pashtunyar
Special to Korea Times
KABUL-The continous deadlock in negotiations between the kidnappers and the Afghan government and Korean delegation is adding more confusion to the issue with each passing day as neither the Afghan or Korean officials nor the Taliban militants are coming out with a clear-cut stance.
Wahidullah Mujaddidi, who is part of the government team to hold negotiations with the Taliban militants, had told The Korea Times Friday night that the process was in progress and they were nearing an agreement. However, nothing appreared despite waiting by hard-nosed journalists to report a possible breakthrough.
On Friday, the militants had first announced the morning (10:00AM) deadline and then it was extended to 5:00PM. Ghazni Governor Merajuddin Patan told this correspondent that the deadline was extended because the negotiations was leading in the right direction.
At the expiry of the first deadline and announcement of the second on that day, the governor showed immense optmisim about some positive results by the evening.
However, when contacted over the telephone in the evening, the Afghan governor did not explain.
He came out a queer argument by accusing the neighbouring Pakistan of meddling in the talks and want to get advantage of the situation by prolonging the crisis and humbling the Afghan government.
Both Pakistan and Afghanistan have been engaged in war of words over the issue of cross-border infiltration and the growing militancy and extremism on their soils.
The two countries are joining a 2,640 kilometers long border which is also disputed and they often remain engaged in diplomatic deadlocks.
While Afghanistan accuses Pakistan of interfering in its internal affairs and not stopping militants from entering into Afghanistan from the border areas of Pakistan, the latter says that it had deployed 80,000 troops to secure the border and stop infiltration of militants.
Besides the Afghan officials, the Taliban militants Friday night said that the negotiations were ended without conclusion and the final deadline for that day was over.
Taliban spokesman Yousaf Ahmadi when contacted for comments over the telephone said that that the deadline has been over and no new deadline was issued.
Although he did not mention the further line of action of the kidnappers, his tone was not harsh as for as the Korean side and the hostages were concerned.
Rather, Ahmadi blamed the Afghan government side for using delaying tactics in pushing the dialogue toward an positive end.
He said the Afghan government did not want the release of the Taliban prisoners and they were delaying the talks by using one pretext or another.
If the stalemate continued, the Taliban would start killing the hostages and the responsibility would lie with the government, said the spokesman. However, he did not issue any new deadline.
As the hostages passed their 10th night in captivity with the Taliban, there is only confusion and no solution is in sight. Earlier, the local and foreign media, which used to catch every sentence from the Taliban or the Afghan officials, were now losing interest in the issue due to the confusion situation and the continous backtracking of Afghan officials and Taliban militants on their previous statements.
If persisted for a few more days, the crisis will further increase the trouble for South Koreans at home as well as for those who are in the captivity of the militants and did not know what will happen to them.
Earlier, the Taliban spokesman had also informed The Korea Times about the sickness of some more hostages and non-availability of proper health facilities with the Taliban which is also an alarming situation. Both the top South Korean Presidential envoy, who has arrived in Kabul to meet Afghan President Hamid Karzai, and the Afghan president himself should take quick decission to help secure the lives of the 22 kidnapped Koreans.