Face-to-face talks between the Taliban and South Korean
officials on 19 South Korean hostages have failed and Taliban
fighters holding them are waiting for a decision from the Taliban
leadership, a purported Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said
Saturday.
The talks, which started on Thursday, had stopped later on the
same day without making any progress, Ahmadi told Xinhua from an
undisclosed place. He added that two Taliban delegates engaged in
the negotiations had gone back to their homes.
The Afghan and South Korean governments had failed to meet the
Taliban's major demand, which was the releasing of eight Taliban
prisoners, the Taliban spokesman said.
Taliban fighters holding the hostages were waiting for a
decision on the hostages' fate from the Taliban leadership, he
added.
A total of 23 South Koreans were kidnapped by Taliban militants
on a road in the central Ghazni province on July 19.
Taliban rebels shot dead two male hostages on July 25 and July
30 separately to press Afghan and South Korean authorities to meet
their demands.
Two female hostages were released on Aug. 13 as the Taliban
claimed it wanted to show "a good gesture" toward South Korean
authorities.
The Afghan government has refused to release Taliban prisoners,
as the Taliban has demanded to exchange for the remaining 19
hostages.
Taliban militants have carried out kidnappings in Afghanistan
over the past two years frequently, and some hostages were
killed.
?
(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2007)
