By Emal Pashtunyar
Special to The Korea Times
KABUL - Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai Thursday said those involved in the kidnapping of Korean women were not Afghans. ``Those people are acting on the agenda of others and we disown them,’’ Karzai said.
Karzai was addressing the opening session of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Peace Jirga, participated in by 700 delegates from the two countries.
Although the Afghan president did not go into details such as the steps taken for the release of the hostages or the negations with the Taliban militants and their conditions, he referred to the kidnapping of the Koreans three times saying he regretted the incident.
Karzai said the history, traditions, culture and values of Afghanistan never allows anyone to kidnap and keep a woman in illegal custody. ``They are the same people involved in the killing of our engineers, doctors, teachers, road construction workers, religious scholars and students.’’
The callous killers, Karzai said, had hanged an elderly Afghan woman in Helmand province and slaughtered another in Zerai district of Kandahar a few months ago. He said killing, torturing or kidnapping a woman was against his people’s traditions and those involved in the kidnapping of Koreans were not Afghans. ``We disown them,’’ said the beleaguered president.
The four-day Peace Jirga is being held in Kabul to discuss causes of insecurity and lawlessness, and ways and means of how to stop the spread of militancy and terrorism in Afghanistan and the border areas of Pakistan. The Prime Minister of Pakistan Shaukat Aziz also addressed the historical meeting.
1 | Koreans stunned by spike in heating costs |
![[INTERVIEW] Partnerships with Korean companies help Delta Air Lines' post-pandemic recovery](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/892c5f8b83fc45018380807ff3c3d42b.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
