taliban Behind The Scene Talks as Doctor Says Hostages Are Well

By Emal Pashtunyar

Special to The Korea Times

KABUL _ After recent failed attempts for the release of the remaining 19 hostages, both Taliban kidnappers and Korean officials are now engaged in behind the scene negotiations through middlemen to secure the safe release of the abductees.

A source, believed to be a close aide of one of the negotiators from the government and Korean sides, told The Korea Times that the Taliban are keeping to their initial demands. However, it is believed that they may also agree on huge ransom ($0.5 million per hostage) as a second option.

Hopes remain further diminished amidst the Afghan government's rejection of prisoner swapping and Korean officials refusing to shell the obscene amount of ransom Taliban terrorists are demanding, said the source. The Afghan government opposes the release of Taliban prisoners on the grounds that such a move would embolden the Taliban and other criminal gangs to intimidate the Afghan government as well as its international partners to concede to their unjust demands.

The Korean side, on the other hand, is, in fact, offering the Taliban ransom, as a peaceful solution; only the amount ($0.5 million) falls well below the demands of the Taliban.

It is clear that efforts are now focused at resolving the issue through ransom payment, confided the source, who said the talks are being kept secret through mutual understanding by the two sides.

Contacted for comments, spokesman for governor of Ghazni province, where the Korean citizens were seized by the militants, neither confirmed nor rejected the secret talks.

Aziz Mangal, the spokesman, told The Korea Times that the issue was being undertaken by the Korea delegation and they (the government) are not a party to the present move. He said some sort of agreement over the payment of ransom can't be ruled out.

However, Taliban spokesman Zabeehullah Mujahid, like the past, denied any demand for ransom by the Taliban. ``We are not going to compromise on anything little than the release of our colleagues," uttered the Taliban spokesman.

Rejected secret talks on the issue of ransom; Mujahid said the government was trying to denigrate the Taliban through such propaganda.

Asked why they did not issue any fresh deadline on the lives of the remaining hostages after the initiation and now suspension of the face-to-face talks, he said the Korean side was requesting time again and again.

He said the decision on the fate of the Koreans was in the hands of their leadership council. At the same time, he said the Taliban are observing restraints and want to save the lives of the hostages.

Earlier, sources had told this correspondent that the Taliban leadership was angry at the commander for kidnapping the Koreas, especially the women, and keeping them in custody for such a longer period.

Earlier, an Italian aid worker Clementina Cantoni, who was kidnapped by armed men in Kabul, the central capital of Afghanistan, in May 2005 was released after three weeks by the captors.

Meanwhile, an Afghan doctor on Friday said all the hostages are in good state of health. Dr. Muhammad Hashim Wahaj, who offered medical help to the hostages a fortnight back, told journalists in Kabul he was told by Taliban commander Abdullah Mansoor that they are well.

The Afghan doctor said he and his team was not allowed to meet the hostages, but was told by the commander that they are in good state of health.