Taliban Foot-Dragging May Cause Loss of Hostages

By Emal Pashtunyar

Special to Korea Times

KABUL _ The ordeal of 22 Korean hostages still seems far from being over as another final deadline set by Taliban militants expired Monday without any solid step taken by the Afghan government or the Korean delegation engaged in talks with the kidnappers for the previous 10 days.

As the Taliban are considered highly unpredictable, no one knows what will be the fate of the 22 if the Afghan government continues foot-dragging over the issue of a release of some imprisoned Taliban members.

At the same time, it is crucial for the Korean delegation, currently in Kabul to represent President Roh Moo-hyun and the government to press the Afghan president to enter into a deal to save the lives of innocent people.

As one Korean citizen has already been killed, the lives of the remaining hostages are also seen to be at stake if something concrete is not done by the Afghan government.

Earlier, it indicated that some kind of military operation to rescue the Koreans could take place, but any step would prove counter-productive and there is a 99 percent risk that the militants could execute all the captives before time if they spotted any operation by Afghan or foreign troops stationed there.

A source close to the militants told this correspondent that the Taliban had already made up their mind to kill three of the hostages if the government did not accept their demands or failed to give any positive signal by the end of the day.

Although the Taliban did not issue any such statement as of this time, the possibility of any untoward move cannot be ruled out in view of the track record of such incidents in the past in Afghanistan.

The problem preventing the two sides from striking a deal is the issue of the release of Taliban prisoners, which has become a matter of face for both parties.

Although the Afghan government so far has not come out with a clear statement on the swap of prisoners, the militants announced that they would agree to nothing less in exchange for the safe release of the hostages.

Kabul, on the other hand, is issuing ambiguous statements _ sometimes talking of nearing an agreement while at other times saying it was offering a ransom to the Taliban.

Some officials have also said there are differences between differing Taliban factions regarding freeing the hostages. Some militants want a ransom while others demand the release of their members held in prison, and this is why the issue is stalled, the Afghan officials said.

But even their statements are not in tandem with each other when looking at the previous few days. An Afghan Defense Ministry's spokesman talked of an operation against the kidnappers, which minutes later was contradicted by the governor of Ghazni Province.

Time is critical both for the Afghan government and the Korean delegation as any mistake may lead to the loss of lives. At the same time, the delegation should push Kabul to avoid operations or talks of operations, because these will further endanger the lives of the abducted people.

It is now time to ensure safe release of the hostages as soon as possible _ the Taliban have already said the health of some of the captives was poor amid the non-availability of proper health facilities. If prolonged, the stalemate could even cause fatalities among the hostages due to disease and weather conditions if not by Taliban bullets. Any more delay will only create more danger for the kidnapped persons.