Taliban Families of Hostages Nervous About Impact of Telephone Interviews
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
The families of the 22 Koreans abducted by Taliban militants in Afghanistan announced Sunday that they will not confirm the identities of any of the hostages giving telephone interviews reported by the media.
Cha Sung-min, a representative of captives' families said in an interview with local broadcaster CBS that they had refused to confirm the identities of two people interviewed by Japanese broadcaster NHK. He said media networks offering to pay large sums of money to get exclusive interviews with hostages will only anger the insurgents and delay negotiations ever further.
There are allegations that the Taliban is deliberately selling recorded telephone interviews to local and foreign news groups.
Local state-run broadcaster KBS admitted that it had received offers from the Taliban. It said the militants asked for $20,000 in return for handing Im Hyun-ju's three-minute-recorded interview. The TV station said it rejected the offer, but the American broadcaster CBS, which later aired the tape, is believed to have paid the money.
The families said that if the media or others keep buying the tapes, then the kidnappers might make video recordings of the abductees, and ask for even more money. ``They will not release our family members until they run out of recording sources,'' Cha said. Therefore, though the initial purpose of interviews was to check if they were okay, any monetary dealings with the militants will only delay their release, he said.
Also, the release of the recorded conversations does nothing to console family members. They only confirm that their loved ones are alive. Most of the captives were reluctant to talk about sensitive matters, and they often kept silent, furthering beliefs that the militants orchestrated the extent of what was said.
Experts criticized that the interviewees are being used to put pressure on the government by telling their family members that they are not well, that they want to go home and that they need help right away.
The government also criticized the foreign media's rush to get exclusive interviews with the captives, saying that this is exactly what the kidnappers want _ to make money and promote their side of the story with people in poor condition. It asked the local media to be prudent as well.
``We are giving up our chance to listen to our beloveds' voices because we really think buying their tapes or messages will help nothing. I hope the media will help us with that,'' Cha said.