By Emal Pashtunyar
Special to Korea Times
KABUL_ As Taliban militants continued to press for the release of their prisoners, conflicting statements from Afghan officials continued to diminish any real hope for resolve as the crisis entered its 12th day.
According to Taliban spokesman Qari Yousaf Ahmadi, it appears ongoing dialogue between Afghan and Korean delegations don't seem to be going well.
A day earlier, while addressing a news conference in Kabul, Deputy Interior Minister Munir Mangal said that the government was also considering military action if the deadlock continued to persist.
The minister warned that the use of force would be the final option if all other measures failed to secure the release of the hostages.
However, another official, Merajuddin Patan, governor of Ghazni, contradicted the deputy minister's statement shortly thereafter.
Patan said there would be no military action, as any step taken in haste might bring harm to the hostages. He assured reporters that they were trying their best to resolve the issue through dialogue.
In the meantime, the US and NATO forces have remained idle. Earlier, a White House spokesman demanded the immediate release of the hostages.
However, no visible role of the United States or other allies stationed in Afghanistan has materialized up until this point.
During a press conference last week, a spokesperson for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also asked for the release of the Korean hostages.
In addition to politically conflicting statements and policies of the Afghan officials, a non-unified stance by the Taliban militants is also worsening matters for resolve.
On Saturday, Taliban spokesman Yousaf Ahmadi smothered all flickers of optimism, stating that they had closed negotiations with the government.
However, another Taliban commander Abdullah Mansoor again resurrected hopes for the safe release of the hostages by announcing that the Taliban had handed over an amended list of prisoners to the government.
Abdullah said that the earlier list contained names of some Taliban who were seized and kept by US military officials.
The Afghan government cannot force the Americans to release them just as the Korean government can not force the Afghan government to release the prisoners to secure the lives of their countrymen.
The Taliban commander also confirmed the fresh start of negotiations between the government and Korean officials, and members of the three-member commission formed by the Taliban leadership.
Meanwhile, analysts in Kabul believe that the Korean government should apply greater pressure on the Afghan government to push for more serious dialogue with the Taliban before any more harm is inflicted on the lives of the Korean captives.
Muhammad Younus, freelance journalist and a political analyst in Kabul, told this correspondent that the Korean side could also influence the Americans to persuade the Afghan government to accept the demands regarding the release of Taliban prisoners to secure the lives of the 22 people.
He said a swap of prisoners was not something new for the Afghan government. It had already released five Taliban prisoners a few months back to ensure safety of an Italian journalist kidnapped by Taliban in the southern province of Helmand.
``Why the government is stalling to save the lives of 22 Koreans, when it had already entered into such a deal with the militants for the release of an Italian a few months back,'' questioned Younus.
Kidnapped on July 19 while on way from Kandahar province to Kabul, the Koreans were initially accused of preaching Christianity in Afghanistan.
However, later, it was revealed that they were mostly medics to oversee the work of Korean health services in Afghanistan. The common Afghans in the streets of Kabul are in favor of a safe release of the hostages.