Afghanistan:Taliban leaders said yesterday their fighters would kill 22 remaining South Korean hostages if the Afghan government did not release rebel prisoners by a new deadline today, a spokesman said.
Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said the deadline had been set by the Taliban leadership council, headed by elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, giving the threat added weight.
The kidnappers killed the leader of the Korean group on Wednesday, but several deadlines have passed without the rebels killing any more hostages.
"Since the talks between us, the Kabul administration and Korean government have reached deadlock and they are not honest . . . hence, we will start killing the hostages if they do not start releasing our prisoners by tomorrow at 12 o'clock," Mr Yousuf said.
Talks between the Afghan government and South Korean diplomats on one side and Taliban rebels on the other have snagged over the demand to swap jailed insurgents for the Koreans.
Afghan president Hamid Karzai has previously ruled out any deal with the Taliban after coming under harsh criticism for freeing five rebel prisoners in exchange for the release of an Italian hostage in March. In his first comments on the latest hostage case, Mr Karzai condemned the kidnapping, but did not say if any deal might be possible.
"Hostage-taking and the abuse of foreign guests, especially women, is against Islam and Afghan culture and the perpetration of this heinous act on our soil is in total contempt of our Islamic and Afghan values," a spokesman quoted him as saying.
Pope Benedict on Sunday called the kidnapping a "grave violation of human dignity that clashes with every elementary norm of civility and rights and gravely offends divine law".
Eighteen of the remaining hostages are women. Mr Yousuf said some of the captives - being held in small groups at different locations - were sick.
Ghazni's governor, Mirajuddin Pathan, said medicines the Korean government had wanted to send could not be delivered on Saturday because the Afghan team could not establish contact with the Taliban. Mr Pathan said the government did not want to use force to rescue the hostages.
"We have no plan of attack. We are trying to send the delegation for more talks," he said.
In addition to Afghan forces, foreign troops are also stationed in Ghazni. South Korean special envoy Baek Jong-chun met Mr Karzai yesterday to discuss ways to end the hostages' ordeal.
"We are well aware of Afghan culture and the difficulties the Afghan government and people are faced with in their fight against terrorism, and will respect their decision to end the hostage crisis," the Korean chief national security adviser was quoted as saying.
- (Reuters)