Taliban Taliban Extend Deadline by Another Day
Kabul Struggles to Free Hostages
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The Taliban on Monday extended the deadline for their South Korean hostages by another 24 hours, but told the government to put the militants in direct contact with Korean negotiators.
``We've extended the deadline by another 24 hours,'' Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi was quoted as saying by AFP. ``The talks are continuing but it seems that they are not going well.'' The insurgents seemed to consider their demand would not be met with the capacity of negotiators of the Afghan government, who are the tribe elders.
The Taliban repeatedly demanded that the Afghan government release the same number of Taliban prisoners in return for the release of the Korean hostages. Otherwise, the insurgents threatened to kill the Korean abductees by the extended deadline of 7 p.m. Monday _ 11:30 p.m. (Korea Standard Time).
However, the Korean government said that it has not been offered such a request of direct negotiation by Taliban and said that it didn't confirm any demand by Taliban.
The request of direct negotiation came amid concerns that the ongoing negotiations between the Afghan government and Taliban rebels might drag on and that the Taliban might demand a huge ransom instead of its initial demand.
So the question narrowed down to how the Korean government meet the new demand of the Taliban.
``The Korean government should put pressure on the Afghan government to give a positive response to the Taliban's demands,'' Ahmadi was quoted as saying by the Associated Press.
Neither Afghan nor Korean government officials confirmed the details of the negotiations _ particularly the prisoner-hostage exchange _ for security reasons. It is not clear whether Afghanistan would agree to such a deal.
Afghan President Hamid Karai authorized the release of five Taliban prisoners in exchange for a kidnapped Italian reporter in March. But he called the trade a one-time deal amid criticism from the U.S. and other Western countries that such a deal may encourage more kidnappings by Taliban.
It took 15 days for the Italian government to secure the release of the journalist.
AIP confirmed that the Korean hostages are in good health. They are held in multiple unidentified places under the surveillance of armed guards. They take showers and have breakfast of chocolates and biscuits.
Meanwhile, the Taliban canceled another demand that the Korean troops stationed in Afghanistan return home because Seoul already announced it will pull out the troops by the end of this year on schedule, NHK reported.
In the wake of the veiled negotiation, a Korean government task force led by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Jung-pyo arrived in Afghanistan, Sunday and met Afghan President Hamid Karazi to discuss the release.
The faltering negotation worried family members of the hostages as they saw the deadline extension as a positive sign for the release. And the mediation by tribe elders at the request of the Afghan government also worked positively, according to some reports.
Unlike Germany, Korea's active efforts to contact the hostage-takers were helpful in the deadline extension, Al Jazeera reported.
Ahmadi said that the Taliban militants killed the two German engineers on Saturday who were kidnapped with the 23 Koreans because the German government didn't show a sincere attitude on the negotiation of the hostages. The Taliban demanded the pullout of German troops in Afghanistan by Saturday noon in return for the release.
The German government, meanwhile, said that only one of the two Germans was found dead while the other is still alive.
The Korean hostages _ 18 women and five men, mostly medical doctors and nurses in their 20s and 30s _ went to Afghanistan to offer medical services. Most of them are members of the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.