Taliban 8 Korean Women Put on Initial List of Swap: Taliban

The Taliban Tuesday revealed a list of eight women of the 23 South Korean hostages proposed to be exchanged with the same number of their prisoners in the initial stage, Yonhap news agency reported from a dispatch from Dubai.

The eight South Korean hostages offered to be swapped are all women, chosen from those in bad health, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported spokesman for the Taliban, was quoted as saying.

The women abductees have been in health problem but fortunately their health is not so serious, Ahmadi said.

The source who relayed the negotiation developments in phone contact with Ahmadi said that the eight Taliban prisoners they offered to exchange are not top-ranking ones but mid-level ones.

If the initial swap is successful, they would exchange the hostages for prisoners one after another, Ahmadi was quoted as saying, when asked why they requested only eight but not all the 23 hostages. Ahmadi was also quoted as saying that they have been negotiating with elders of the regional tribe over the swap very smoothly.

Ahmadi said that it is their position to settle the kidnapping as soon as possible, according to the source.

The Afghan government ruled out the program to swap prisoners with hostages, as it violates the Constitution. But the captives would be freed if the issue is settled through negotiations with regional elders and clerics because they outpower the nation's laws as a result of unique Afghan culture and tradition and the Islamic law, Sharia, is also superior to the Constitution, Ahmadi said.

The source said it could be regarded as nearly an end to the deal between the elders and the militants that the Taliban have proposed the list of eight prisoners they want to be freed.

The elders negotiating group includes delegates of the Afghan and South Korean governments, according to the source.

"Till Wednesday morning, they will continue to negotiate the release of remainders. This night is the turning point of the hostage issue," a person close to the militants was quoted as saying.

"What we demand is not the money but our 23 Taliban members in prision," Ahmadi was quoted as saying, when asked they demanded money as ransom or in return for 'proof of life.'