Taliban Taliban, South Korea Launch Hostage Deal: Al Jazeera
By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
The Taliban militia and the South Korean government have launched neogitations on release of 23 South Korean hostages, Arabic language broadcaster Al Jazeer reported Saturday, according to local news media.
A total of 23 Korean hostages - 18 women and 5 men - abducted on Thursday are held in seven places in southern Afghanistan, the broadcaster said.
The South Korean government has dispatched a vice foreign minister to Afghanistan to deal with the hostage issue as soon as possible, an official of the Ministy of Foreign Affairs and Trade said.
Earlier that day, Taliban said that they welcomed South Korea's decision to pull out its troops out of Afghanistan, another report said.
Korean abductees are safe, Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said, according to the AFP.
"We'll decide the fate of the South Koreans later," Ahmadi was quoted as saying by the AFP. "But we welcome their government's decision to pull out of our country. I hope their (hostage) problem is solved peacefully."
Taliban's welcome came after Korea confirmed its position that it will withdraw 200-strong troops of Dasan Engineering Unit and Dongui Medical Unit by the end of this year as planned. Earlier in the day, Song Min-soon, minister of foreign affairs and trade, said in a press briefing that the troops will come back home as scheduled by this year.
The insurgents threatened to kill Korean and German hostages unless the two countries pull out its troops from Afghanistan.
Ahmadi said that Taliban killed two German captives because Germany failed to contact Taliban until the deadline that the insurgents suggested (Saturday noon). However, no official proof was found about the killing.
President Roh Moo-hyun also called for the release of Koreans by Taliban militants in a televised press briefing.
"Under any circumstances, precious lives must not be lost,'' Roh said. ``The Korean government is prepared to make its utmost effort with the relevant parties in order to secure the speedy release of the Korean citizens.''
The Korean abductees, mostly medical doctors and nurses, went to Afghanistan to offer medical services, Roh stressed. He also had a phone call with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, asking him to help the release of the Korean abductees in his Islamic country.