Taliban 22 Hostages Await Release
Taliban Want Eight Prisoners to Be Freed
By Yoon Won-sup with Emal Pashtunyar
Staff Reporter
KABUL _ The Taliban militants, which have taken 23 Koreans hostage since July 19 and killed one of them in Afghanistan, reduced their demand of 22 Taliban prisoners to only eight in exchange for the release of the remaining hostages, according to sources on Friday.
``The top Korean official (Baek Jong-chun, special presidential envoy) arrived here and the Taliban's reduced demand gives new momentum to the negotiation,'' a source told The Korea Times.
The source said that the proposal is the most viable option and will hopefully get settled soon as the Afghan government, which already received a list of the eight prisoners, is seriously considering the deal.
The Taliban had demanded that the Afghan government release the same number of Taliban prisoners in return for the release of Korean abductees.
The Afghan government's position that it will not accept the swap deal seemed to have moved the Taliban to ease their demand amid strong opposition from the United States and other Western countries.
Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, purported spokesman of the Taliban, said that the Korean negotiators and the Taliban had agreed to the swap of eight people from each side but the deal failed due to the Afghan government's interference on Wednesday.
However, the exchange deal has undergone and still undergoes internal conflict with the Taliban militants as they have differing views in dealing with their captives.
Though Ahmadi made clear in his exclusive interview with The Korea Times that the Taliban demand only the trade of its prisoners and the hostages, their division is obvious.
``There are divisions among the Taliban kidnappers as told by the Afghan government officials over the issue of their demands,'' the source said. ``Some of them want ransom but others are asking for the release of prisoners only.''
So far, the insurgents who prefer the swap deal dominate the Taliban's opinion as Ahamid said.
Meanwhile, though some hostages appear to be sick, they are properly fed, according to the source. The Taliban sent a doctor with medicine to assist those in need.
Im Hyun-joo, a female captive, with whom CBS had a telephone interview on Thursday, indicated that several Korean captives are sick in a very bad condition. ``All of us are sick in a very dreadful condition,'' she was quoted as saying.
She pleaded for governments concerned to help the hostages get released because they are enduring a very exhausting situation day by day.
The news of the captives' illness worried family members as Ahmadi said that the Taliban killed one of the hostages, Rev. Bae Hyun-kyu, 42, because he was sick and couldn't walk. Bae's body, which was transported to a Korean base in Bagram, will soon arrive in Seoul.
The Korean government said it seeks to provide the hostages with food and medical supplies, as the Taliban also expressed no objection to the provision.
Earlier, the Taliban demanded the withdrawal of the Korean troops in Afghanistan but it canceled the demand because Seoul reassured that it planned to go ahead with pulling the troops out by the end of this year on schedule.
The Korean abductees _ 18 women and five men, mostly doctors and nurses in their 20s and 30s _ went to Afghanistan on July 13 to offer volunteer medical services. Most of them are members of the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province.