Afghan militants repeated a threat to kill three UN hostages and rejected government talk of a ransom offer today, saying they were sticking to their demand for the release of Taliban prisoners.
Akbar Agha, head of the Jaish-e Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), said it would make no further effort to contact the government or the United Nations for talks after 6.30 p.m. (Irish time) today.
"But if we receive any invitation from the UN representatives or Afghan government to talk on the issue, we may consider it," he told Reuters.
"The release of Taliban prisoners is our main demand. We have not demanded for any ransom and it is very clear we would not accept any offer of money against the release of the hostages."
Ms Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Ms Shqipe Hebibi from Kosovo and Filipino diplomat Ms Angelito Nayan were abducted on October 28th after helping run presidential elections won by Mr Hamid Karzai.
A government official said earlier the government and security forces had been trying reach a deal through intermediaries and was considering offering a ransom.