taliban Family Dispair on Cancelled Release
By Kim Tae-jong
Staff Reporter
Family members of the 21 Korean hostages held in Afghanistan were deeply disappointed Sunday by the news of the cancellation of the release of two female abductees.
The setback led them to experience again the feeling of despair followed by hope as they had expected to see a breakthrough in the abduction case.
The abductees' family first hailed the news on Saturday about the possibility that two female hostages would be set free by Taliban militants.
A purported Taliban spokesman said that they had released two sick, female Korean hostages without giving their names.
Although none of the reports had been confirmed by the Korean government, expectations were high as they came after resumed face-to-face talks between the Taliban and a South Korean delegation on Saturday.
But the hopeful anticipation changed into despair with the news that the Taliban said they had changed their minds ,Sunday, despite earlier saying the two women could return home.
``On the way to the Red Crescent Society in Ghazni with the two women, our leadership changed their mind,'' Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi was quoted as saying by the Yonhap News Agency. ``We cancelled the plan to free the two female hostages.''
Family members said they could not confirm who the ``sick'' hostages were as all the Christian volunteers were healthy when they left Seoul, but the abduction could have caused health problems for any of them.
But speculation was that the female hostages were two of Kim Ji-na, Yoo Jeong-hwa or Lee Seon-young.
Kim's brother Ji-woong said his sister suffers from a spinal disorder, which needs medical treatment but the abduction had made it worse. It has also been reported that Yoo and Lee suffered from diarrhea and fever due to the food they have been eating and hot weather.
Family members who were gathered at the Saemmul Community Church in Bundang, south of Seoul, were in shock after the news report but did not make any official statement on the cancellation by the Taliban.
They simply said that they will wait until the government confirms the report as there have been many false reports and misinformation distributed by news outlets as well as frequent changes in the stance of the Taliban.