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WORLD / Asia-Pacific
Taliban says not releasing Korean hostages
(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-08-12 14:19
Afghanistan's Taliban has decided not to free any of 21 South Korean
hostages despite earlier saying two women could go, the Korea's Yonhap
news agency reported Sunday citing an insurgents' spokesman.
Yonhap quoted Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi as saying: "Our leaders
have changed their minds and decided not to free two female hostages."
South Korean officials refused to confirm the report.
After face-to-face talks between the Taliban and a South Korean
delegation, Ahmadi told AFP late Saturday that the two women, who are
reported to be ill, were being released unconditionally as a "gesture of
goodwill."
The Taliban abducted 23 Christian aid workers in volatile southern Ghazni
province on July 19. Two male hostages have been shot dead, and the
insurgents have threatened to kill the rest unless captured militants are
released from jail in exchange for their lives.
But Kabul, backed by Washington, has refused to accept that demand,
fearing it would only encourage more kidnappings.
The government in Seoul, meanwhile, says it is powerless to bring about a
prisoner release.
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