7 Others to Be Freed Soon
By Yoon Won-sup,
Emal Pashtunyar in Kabul
Staff Reporter
KABUL _ Taliban militants freed 12 of their 19 Korean hostages _ two men and 10 women _ in groups of three, five and four, respectively, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Wednesday.
The freed men are Go Se-hun and Yu Kyung-sik, and the women are Lee Sun-young, Im Hyun-ju, Yu Jung-hwa, Lee Ji-young, An Hye-jin, Lee Jung-ran, Han Ji-young, Seo Myung-hwa, Lee Ju-yun and Cha Hye-jin.
They were released by their captors in line with an agreement reached between the two sides as a result of several rounds of drawn-out negotiations.
``We were informed that there were no specific problems with the freed hostages’ health,’’ Cho Hee-yong, the ministry spokesman, said in a statement.
Announcing the release, the Taliban said the remaining hostages would be freed in the next two days.
A Taliban commander, requesting anonymity, told The Korean Times that the first three hostages were handed over to International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) officials at an undisclosed location in Ghazni Province, Wednesday afternoon.
He said five hostages were brought from another place and were also handed over to the mediators, adding more time was required to bring the remaining captives together and hand them over.
``It will take some time to collect them,’’ said the commander, who expected the process would be concluded in two to three days.
However, a source privy to the negotiations and the deal between the two sides, disclosed to The Korea Times that the remaining Koreans would be set free by Thursday evening. The source said the exact date, time and location of the release would not be disclosed to the media for security reasons.
He said the hostages have been kept at separate locations _ some in far-off areas _ and it would take time to bring them to tribal elders or ICRC officials, who will later hand them over to Korean officials.
Haji Muhammad Zahir, an elder from Ghazni Province, who played a pivotal role in mediating the release of the captives, said that the process would be concluded in two days.
Zahir escorted the two women previously released and handed them over to ICRC officials on the outskirts of Ghazni, the capital of Ghazni Province.
Zahir also said that since the hostages were kept at different places, they would be released in groups, adding he hoped the rest would be set free by Friday evening.
Although the announcement regarding the agreement was made Tuesday after face-to-face talks between Taliban negotiators and Korean officials at the office of the ICRC, the two sides had agreed on the release of the hostages days before the formal meeting.
Under the agreement, 210 Korean troops will leave the country by the end of the current year; Koreans working for non-governmental organizations will also depart from Afghanistan; and the Korean government will ban Christian missionaries from traveling there. The Taliban agreed to release their hostages and not attack Koreans leaving the country.
Earlier, the militants were demanding the release of Taliban prisoners from Afghan jails. However, the Afghan government turned down the demand, which was later dropped from negotiations.
Some sources said that the Taliban have been given huge sums by Korean officials as a ransom for the hostages. However, no confirmation from parties and mediators concerned was forthcoming.
yoonwonsup@koreatimes.co.kr
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