taliban End to Hostages Ordeal Imminent

By Emal Pashtunyar

Special to Korea Times

KABUL _ Talks have continued between the hostage-takers and the Korean side to secure safe release of the 21 hostages and officials involved in the process have showed optimism about the outcome.

The face-to-face parleys between the two-member team of the Taliban side and the Korean officials were launched at the office of a non-governmental organization in Ghazni city, capital of Ghazni Province, where the 23 Koreans _ two of them were killed _ were seized by the militants.

A source privy to the whole process told The Korea Times that the dialogue was heading in the right direction and the release of the hostages was now a matter of a few hours if the situation continues to move in the same direction.

A government official said they were upbeat about a positive and early outcome of the dialogue which kicked off on Friday evening.

Earlier, Taliban spokesman Yousaf Ahmadi told The Korea Times that they had dispatched two Taliban leaders to Ghazni city for face-to-face talks after getting assurances from the government that they (the Taliban negotiators) would not be apprehended by the security agencies.

A government official, who requested anonymity, said that both the Taliban and the Korean delegation were doing their bit to finalize the deal during the current session of the negotiations.

Asked what are the demands of the militants, the source said the Taliban were asking for a huge ransom running in millions of dollars. However, he would not tell the exact amount. Taliban had already denied reports about ransom, demanding the release of their prisoners.

However, the Afghan government ruled out prisoners' swap, saying it would encourage kidnappings and lawlessness in the insurgency-wracked country.

Earlier, many members of the Pakistan-Afghan Peace Jirga, which opened in Kabul on Thursday, had condemned the Taliban for kidnapping and keeping the Korean women in illegal custody.

The participants, including tribal elders, legislators and influentials, observed that kidnapping a woman and keeping her in illegal custody was against the traditions of Pashtuns and the Taliban should immediately release the foreign hostages.