Talks to free Korean hostages failed: Taliban

Face-to-face talks between Taliban negotiators and a South Korean delegation in Ghazni, the capital of Ghazni province where the 23 Christian aid workers were abducted nearly a month ago, ended Thursday with no result, he said.

More talks did not seem “probable,” he said, as Taliban demands for the release of some of their men from prison in exchange for the hostages’ liberty had not been met by the Afghan government.

“Further talks will not achieve anything, the Koreans told us that the Americans and the Afghan government are not ready to release our prisoners,” he said.

The Taliban freed two women hostages on Monday in what they said was a “gesture of good will”. The two were the first to be released since the South Koreans were seized on July 19 on the main highway south of the capital Kabul.

Two of the men in the group have been murdered, and the Taliban have threatened to shoot more if their demands are not met.

Ahmadi said his group would resume talks only if the South Korean delegation and the Afghan government were ready to discuss a prisoner swap.

“We will still negotiate with them if they are ready to discuss the release of prisoners,” said Ahmadi.

The US-backed government of President Hamid Karzai was heavily criticised, notably by Washington, after it freed five Taliban in March in exchange for an Italian journalist.

The Taliban had beheaded the journalist’s Afghan driver and a translator, giving rise to accusations that Kabul placed higher value on the lives of foreign nationals than Afghans.

It prompted Karzai to say no more deals would be done, and officials have said agreeing to the extremists’ demands would encourage abductions by the Taliban and criminal groups alike.

The two freed female hostages arrived home in South Korea Friday after learning upon their release of the murders of their fellow captives.

Kim Gi-Na and Kim Kyung-Ja looked shocked and traumatised during a brief appearance before TV cameras after landing in Incheon airport west of Seoul.

The hostages had been separated into small groups and moved frequently to frustrate any attempted rescue mission.

The Taliban, influenced by Al-Qaida, is also holding a 62-year-old German engineer kidnapped near Kabul a day before the South Koreans.