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WORLD / Asia-Pacific
Taliban 'hopeful' of Koreans' freedom
(AP)
Updated: 2007-08-11 15:24
GHAZNI, Afghanistan - A Taliban leader taking part in hostage
negotiations for the lives of 21 South Koreans said Saturday that talks
are on a "positive track" and that he hopes the captives could be
released "today or tomorrow."
Mullah Qari Bashir said that face-to-face negotiations with four Korean
officials that began Friday were going well and that the Taliban were
sticking with their original demand － that 21 Taliban prisoners be
released from prisons in Afghanistan.
"I'm very optimistic. The negotiations are continuing on a positive
track," Bashir said.
Asked when the hostages might be released, he said: "Hopefully today or
tomorrow."
The South Koreans abducted on July 19 were the largest group of foreign
hostages taken in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion, and their
kidnapping underscores the rise of the Taliban's power in rural
Afghanistan over the last two years.
Two men among the 23 South Koreans originally kidnapped already have been
killed. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi has said the Taliban would
not kill any of the remaining South Korean hostages until the
face-to-face meetings have been held.
The Afghan government has said it will not release prisoners because
doing so could encourage more kidnappings. Afghan authorities say talks
with the Taliban are the best way to resolve the problem.
Marajudin Pathan, the local governor, has said a ransom payment might
resolve the crisis. He said the talks would not lead to further
negotiations between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
The South Korean government has issued guidelines to its aid
organizations telling them to leave Afghanistan by the end of the month
for safety reasons, a South Korean Embassy official said on condition of
anonymity due to policy.
Last month, the government banned its citizens from traveling to
Afghanistan.
Ahmadi said the departure of South Korean aid workers would have a
"positive effect." He did not elaborate.
In South Korea, a spokesman for the hostages' families said Friday that
the mothers of several hostages － five women and a translator － will
travel to the emirate of Dubai next week to seek help from the Arab world
in securing their loved ones' release.
"The reason why we are sending women, especially mothers, to Dubai is
that Islamic culture has more sympathy for women," said the spokesman,
Cha Sung-min. Sixteen of the hostages are women.
Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, meanwhile, agreed to attend
the closing session of a peace council between hundreds of Afghan and
Pakistani tribal leaders discussing the rising militant violence along
their shared border.
Musharraf canceled his appearance at Thursday's opening of the conference
－ or "jirga" － raising doubts about how effective it would be,
especially because tribesmen from the most volatile Pakistani border zone
were boycotting it.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai phoned Musharraf on Friday evening and
invited him to attend Sunday's closing session, saying his participation
would be "a source of support and encouragement for the jirga process,"
Pakistan's Foreign Ministry said.
Musharraf agreed "in principle" to address the closing session, a
ministry statement said, without elaborating. An official in Musharraf's
office said the commitment was not iron-clad because the government does
not flag the president's movements due to security concerns.
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