By Kim Yon-se, Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporters
Negotiations over the 22 Koreans held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan passed their seventh deadline on Monday without any breakthrough.
In the meantime, Seoul is reportedly in close contact with Washington to secure the release of the hostages, the presidential office said.
Presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon told reporters, ``We are looking toward the necessary collaboration with the United States.''
Asked if the scheduled summit between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W. Bush in the U.S. on Aug. 5 could determine the issue of the prisoner release, he said it is inappropriate for the Korean government to comment on the meeting.
The Taliban militants had threatened to kill the hostages if their demand for a swap with prisoners held by Afghanistan was not met by 4:30 p.m. Monday (KST), which Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, the purported Taliban spokesman, had claimed was the final deadline.
But the deadline was extended again after the Taliban accused Afghan government officials of being insincere in the negotiations.
Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni Province where the Koreans were kidnapped, also pleaded with the Taliban to extend their deadline for two more days of talks.
The extension came after the insurgents delivered a revised list of their comrades to be freed from prison to the Afghan government in return for the release of the Korean hostages, according to a source in Kabul.
The new list excluded prisoners in the custody of the U.S. military in Afghanistan at the request of the Afghan government, the source said. But officials in Kabul declined to confirm if they have received an amended list.
The Afghan government had rejected an initial list of eight prisoners including high-profile Taliban commanders late last week because some members on the list were in the custody of the U.S. Though the United States expressed its full support for the hostage problem, it repeatedly made clear that there would be no deal with the terrorists.
^Baek Jong-chun, a special presidential envoy from South Korea, asked for a flexible approach to the deal during a meeting with Afghan President Karzai. But the President said his country will exert its utmost efforts to free the hostages, without mentioning the release of Taliban prisoners.
Baek will stay in Afghanistan for one or two more days, closely watching the development of the situation, according to Cheon.
Afghanistan's Deputy Interior Minister Munir Mangal, who is leading the negotiations, also said that the release of Taliban prisoners would not be realized, the Washington Times reported. Rather, he indicated that the Afghan government would use force if the negotiations failed.
Seoul has opposed any military measures to free the hostages because it could put the hostages in harm's way. The Taliban have said they will kill the hostages if the Afghan government or international military forces conduct any military operation to rescue them.
The insurgents have already killed one hostages, Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu, 42, on July 25, blaming his death to the stalled negotiations. His body arrived in Seoul, Monday.
Seoul has requested the help of Washington and other allies for the release of the Koreans while maintaining in contact with the Taliban.
Foreign Affairs Minister Song Min-soon phoned his U.S. counterpart Condoleezza Rice and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking them for full support.
Asked if the government is being too passive in calling for the Bush administration to accept the Taliban's demands, Cheon stressed that the government is asking for ``all required'' cooperation.
But he said the government cannot make public the exact demands made by the Taliban, declining to comment on what the Korean government can do for the release if the U.S. shows a negative view to them.
Cheon also downplayed reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai was negative over the release of Taliban prisoners in exchange for the 22 Koreans, saying, ``We don't trust the reports.''
Meanwhile, some hostages appeared to be sick as they passed their 12th day in captivity, according to sources. The Taliban sent a doctor with medicine to assist those in need.
The Korean government has already sent two batches of food and medical supplies to the local government in Ghazni and they were delivered to the militants, Cheon said.
The Korean abductees _ 18 women and four men, mostly doctors and nurses 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.