Taliban Says No More Talks on Korean Hostages

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Taliban says no more talks on Korean hostages
By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban rebels on Sunday ruled out more talks with the Afghan government over their remaining 22 South Korean hostages and said the release of militant prisoners was the only way out of the crisis.

An Afghan team that was supposed to have held more talks with the Taliban on Saturday could not reach the group because of security concerns in Ghazni province, provincial sources said. The team hoped to persuade the insurgents to free without condition the Christian volunteers they kidnapped from a bus 10 days ago in Ghazni, south of Kabul.

A deputy interior minister on Saturday told Reuters that force might be used if talks fail. Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban spokesman, warned on Sunday against use of force and pressed for the freedom of the rebel prisoners as the main condition for the release of the Koreans.

"There is no need for further talks. We have given the government a list of Taliban prisoners who should be released and that is our main demand," he told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070729/wl_nm/afghan_hostages_dc

[Eugene]

1. Taliban set 0730 Monday as last hostage deadline

Source: Reuters

Taliban set 0730 Monday as last hostage deadline
29 Jul 2007 13:20:01 GMT
Source: Reuters

KABUL, July 29 (Reuters) - Taliban leaders set 0730 GMT
on Monday as the last deadline for the Korean hostages,
a rebel spokesman said on Sunday, and said the group
will start killing the captives if Taliban prisoners were
not freed by then.

"Since the talks between us, the Kabul administration and
Korean government have reached deadlock and they are
not honest ... so, we will start killing the hostages if they
do not start releasing our prisoners by tomorrow at 12
o'clock," Qari Mohammad Yousuf said.

Link: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL282542.htm

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Also: Karzai: SKoreans' Kidnapping Un-Islamic - AP

[razorman]

2. The Talis would be be unpleasantly surprised if South Korea

reacted by officially declaring war on them and dramatically increasing their presence in Afghanistan. It will never happen, though.

[Eugene]

3. No word on hostages as Taliban deadline passes

Source: Reuters

No word on hostages as Taliban deadline passes
30 Jul 2007 08:36:32 GMT
Source: Reuters

-snip-

By Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL, July 30 (Reuters) - A Taliban "final deadline" for
resolving a crisis over 22 South Korean hostages the
group is threatening to kill passed on Monday, but there
was no word on their fate from either the rebels or the
Afghan government.

The Taliban said earlier they would not back down from
their leaders' 0730 GMT deadline and would kill the 22
Koreans -- mostly women -- unless the Afghan
government freed jailed rebels.

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

As the latest deadline passed a spokesman for the
governor of Ghazni province, where the Koreans were
kidnapped, declined to comment on whether there had
been any fresh developments.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/ISL236775.htm