AFGHANISTAN

Deadline expires for Taliban's hostages

Sunday, July 29, 2007

The lives of 22 South Korean hostages held by the Taliban in Afghanistan are in the balance as a final deadline expired Monday. Militants are demanding the release of jailed rebels in return for the hostages.

KABUL, July 30 (Reuters) - The Taliban said they would not
back down from their leader's 0730 GMT final deadline on Monday
and would kill their 22 South Korean hostages unless the Afghan
government freed jailed rebels by then.
 

Monday's deadline was issued by the Taliban leadership
council, led by elusive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar,
giving the threat to kill the hostages more weight than several
other deadlines that have passed without incident.
 

Taliban sources said the government had made no contact
since the final deadline was issued by the movement's
leadership council on Sunday and reiterated there would no
backing-down.
 

"We will not back down from the deadline and the government
has not established contact with us," Taliban spokesman Qari
Mohammad Yousuf said by telephone from an unknown location.
 

The Taliban seized the Korean Christians more than 10 days
ago from a bus in Ghazni province to the southwest of Kabul and
killed the leader of the group on Wednesday after a deadline.
 

That prompted the Afghan government to seek more talks with
the Taliban who said the release of a group of militants held
by Kabul was the only way out of the crisis.
 

On Sunday, the Taliban ruled out holding further talks
after they said government negotiators demanded the
unconditional release of the hostages and a senior official
hinted that force will be used to rescue them.
 

The Afghan government had wanted the Taliban to first
release the 18 women hostages, but the insurgents demanded the
government release its prisoners first, leading to deadlock, a
Kabul-based Western security analyst said on condition of
anonymity.
 

President Hamid Karzai has remained silent throughout the
hostage ordeal, except for condemning the abduction, the
largest by the Taliban since U.S.-led forces overthrew the
movement's radical Islamic government in 2001.
 

He came under harsh criticism for freeing a group of
Taliban in March in exchange for the release of an Italian
journalist.
 

The abduction of the Koreans came a day after two German
aid workers and their five Afghan colleagues were seized by
Taliban in neighbouring Wardak province.
 

The body of one of the Germans has been found with gun
shots and the Taliban still hold the other along with four
Afghans.

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