By Emal Pashtunyar
Special to Korea Times
KABUL _ Face-to-face talks between Taliban militants and Korean officials resumed Thursday morning with hopes that the two sides will reach an agreement to achieve the safe release of the remaining 19 Korean hostages.
The meeting started amid reports that the Taliban leadership was unhappy at the kidnapping of women by their fighters and has asked the concerned commander to reach an agreement with the Korean delegation and ensure a speedy settlement of the crisis.
The Taliban announced a suspension of direct negotiations soon after the release of two female hostages on Monday.
The kidnappers said they were engaged in consultations and talks would resume at a later date. At the same time, they said both sides were engaged in conversation via telephone.
On Wednesday, both the Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi and a tribal elder Haji Zahir, who is facilitating the talks, confirmed the resumption of the dialogue at an office used by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Ghazni.
A government source privy to the behind the scene talks told The Korea Times that members of the two delegations arrived at the office in four vehicles with tinted windows at 9:10 a.m. (2:10 p.m. KST).
The source disclosed that they entered into dialogue 20 minutes after their arrival, adding that strict security measures are in place to avoid any harm to the delegations.
He said the militants were insisting on the release of prisoners in exchange for the Korean hostages, but the Korean delegation was offering a ransom.
Earlier, another source told this reporter that the matter was stalled on the amount of payment. While the Taliban are demanding $500,000 for each captive, the Korean side is offering $500,000 for all 19.
Quoting one of the two Taliban negotiators, Mullah Bashir, the source said the release of prisoners was still the single most important demand by the militants.
``We want the release of our colleagues. We set free the two women as a gesture of goodwill and now we want the government to reciprocate in the same vein,'' Mullah Bashir was quoted as saying.
He added that any decision reached upon with the Korean delegation would be forwarded to their (Taliban) leadership for approval.
Many observers here believe that the second round of talks will bear fruit and the two sides will reach an agreement to secure the safe release of the remaining Koreans.
The 23 people _ two of them killed and another two release by the kidnappers _ were seized by armed militants almost a month ago (July 19), while returning to Kabul from the restive province of Kandahar.
The road linking the southern province of Kandahar _ also the birthplace of Taliban movement _ with the central capital Kabul, passes through Ghazni Province.
Several districts in Ghazni are under the virtual control of the militants and Qarabagh, where the 23 people were kidnapped, is supposedly one of them.