The Taliban have not killed the remaining 22 South Korean Christian volunteers held hostage in Afghanistan despite a deadline passing, a senior official said today.
The Taliban said the Afghan government had been given until last night to agree to exchange the group for eight imprisoned rebels, but the deadline passed without word from the kidnappers. One hostage was killed yesterday.
"No, they have not killed any of the hostages and we are trying to contact the Taliban for resumption of talks," said General Ali Shah Ahmadzai, provincial police chief of Ghazni province where the remaining hostages are being held.
No Taliban member could be contacted for comment.
Earlier reports by some media that eight hostages had been released have been denied by officials, negotiators and a spokesman for the Taliban.
The fate of the 22 Christian volunteers had hung in the balance overnight, after the rebels shot dead one hostage and dumped his bullet-ridden body near where the group was seized last week.
He was identified in Seoul as the group's leader, Bae Hyung-kyu, a pastor.
South Korea's government strongly condemned Bae's murder, calling it an unforgivable atrocity.
"The government and the people of South Korea condemn the kidnapping of innocent civilians and the atrocity of harming a human life," said Baek Jong-chun, presidential chief national security adviser.
"Harming innocent civilians can never be justified and we will never forgive this kind of inhumane act," he said in a nationally televised statement.
The Taliban accused the government and South Korean negotiators of failing to act in good faith after Kabul rejected demands for eight named rebels to be freed from prison.
Initially the Taliban had also insisted South Korea withdraw all its troops serving with an international force in Afghanistan - something Seoul had planned to do before the end of the year anyway.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged not to swap prisoners for hostages after being criticized for releasing five Taliban from jail in March in exchange for an Italian reporter.
The president and ministers have remained silent throughout the latest hostage ordeal, but Seoul said it would soon dispatch a special envoy to step up coordination with Kabul.