 Protesters shout slogans during a rally demanding that the United States engage in negotiations for the safe return of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan and withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea near the U.S. Army base in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday. Taliban leaders and South Korean officials were continuing negotiations by telephone over the fate of the remaining 19 hostages, but no new face-to-face talks had been planned, the International Committee of the Red Cross said Tuesday. / AP-Yonhap |
By Yoon Won-sup with Emal Pashtunyar
Staff Reporter
The Korean delegation and the Taliban militants Wednesday continued their negotiation for the release of the remaining 19 hostages by phone. But they have no plans at holding more face-to-face talks any time soon.
The purported Taliban spokesman, Yousaf Ahmadi, told The Korea Times that the talks continues through phone calls between the Korean and Taliban negotiators but they didn't agree to meet in the immediate future.
The suspension of the negotiation came after the militants released two female hostages, Kim Gyeong-ja and Kim Ji-na, Monday night, the first breakthrough in the hostage crisis. Earlier, the Taliban killed two male hostages.
The spokesman said the Taliban released the two women as a show of goodwill because they were sick and the negotiations were going well.
Franz Rauchenstein, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross said in an interview with AFP that officials were ready to host more talks at the office of the Afghan Red Crescent in Ghazni where the two sides held negotiations from Friday to Sunday.
``The parties are in talks (over the phone) by themselves,'' Rauchenstein said. ``We stand ready to play the role of neutral intermediary for the release of the next 19 hostages and we are urging the two parties to make it a short process in the interest of the hostages.''
Meanwhile, Ahmadi said the two Taliban negotiators are authorized by their leaders to change and reduce the list of prisoners they want free, in exchange for the release of the hostages.
The Taliban has demanded the Afghan government free the Taliban prisoners in return for the release of the same number of the hostages.
However, Marajudin Patan, governor of Ghazni, who had suggested the hostage crisis could be solved with a ransom payment, ruled out a swapping deal.
The Afghan government also made clear several times that it will not accept any demand by the kidnappers, saying the acceptance can encourage more kidnappings by the militants. The United States and other Western countries similarly echoed such views.
The remaining hostages _ mostly in their 20s and 30s _ went to Afghanistan on July 13 to offer volunteer medical services.
yoonwonsup@koreatimes.co.kr
