Taliban Taliban Elders to Mediate Hostage Crisis
By Yoon Won-sup with Emal Pashtunyar in Kabul
Staff Reporter
A Taliban council meeting, dubbed ``jirga,'' slated for Aug. 9-11 in the Afghan capital of Kabul, has emerged as a fresh hope for 21 Korean hostages after negotiations for their release dragged on with little progress. The meeting is a decision-making process among tribal elders.
Delegates to the Pakistan-Afghanistan Peace Jirga will mainly discuss security, terrorism, and ways to stop the infiltration of Taliban militants from tribal areas in Pakistan into Afghanistan and vice versa. The hostage issue will be also on the agenda.
Traditionally, the meeting is held to find a solution to conflicts and it could produce a positive outcome for the release of the hostages, according to a source in Kabul.
``The jirga may give instructions to the Taliban about their captives,'' the source said.
^One of the reasons why the jirga is drawing attention is that an anticipated summit between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W. Bush has seemingly failed to provide a solution to the hostage crisis.
The two presidents reconfirmed their longstanding principle of not accepting kidnappers' demands during their meeting on Aug 5-6. But Karzai voiced confidence in the success of the jirga.
The Taliban, which took the Koreans hostage on July 19, have repeatedly demanded that the Afghan government releases its Taliban prisoners in return for the hostages. Otherwise, the insurgents have threatened to kill them. They have already killed two male captives.
Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi also indicated that the Taliban will wait before making any decision about the hostages and on the outcome of the jirga.
``We will be waiting till Afghan President Hamid Karzai returns home.'' Ahmadi said in an interview with The Korea Times.
But he stressed that ``our patience is running out and we can kill more Korean hostages unless the swap deal is agreed to.''
Direct negotiations between a Korean delegation and the Taliban have made no progress as they failed to agree on a meeting place.
The Taliban want to hold face-to-face negotiations in an area they control, said the spokesman. Otherwise, the insurgents need U.N. security guarantees should the Koreans want negotiations to take place outside Taliban-controlled areas, he added.
Seoul officials, however, said that the Taliban are making use of the press to bolster their position.
``The Taliban seem to be giving the wrong information to the press for their own benefit,'' said an official who declined to be named. ``Don't get confused by their information.''
For example, Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials refuted a report in an AFP interview with Ahmadi that President Roh Moo-hyun called for support from the United States by making a phone call to Bush.
In preparation for possible protracted negotiations, Seoul will continue to try to provide medical supplies and other necessities to the hostages through the Afghan government and the kidnappers.
Ahmadi said 16 of the 21 Koreans are sick, suffering from dehydration and intestinal disorders and two females are seriously ill. However, the Taliban denied a group of Afghan medical doctors access to them citing security reasons.
The remaining Korean captives _ 18 women and three men, mostly 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.