YONHAP NEWS

(5th LD) S. Korean envoy seeks meeting Afghan president as hostage negotiations continue

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, July 28 (Yonhap) -- A special South Korean presidential envoy met with Afghan officials in Kabul on Saturday on a mission to secure the release of 22 South Koreans seized by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan 10 days ago, South Korean officials in Seoul said.

   Baek Jong-chun, national security adviser to President Roh Moo-hyun, arrived in the Afghan capital on Friday as negotiations to free the hostages dragged on. South Korean officials said the envoy was seeking a meeting with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

   "Though no schedule has been set, we expect Baek to meet the Afghan president today," an official in Seoul said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

   South Korean government sources say Baek is expected to ask the Afghan president to be flexible on the demands by the kidnappers and to convey Roh's request to make the release of the hostages a top priority.

   "Sending a presidential special envoy is the best possible choice the president can make at this point," South Korean presidential spokesman Chun Ho-seon told reporters on Friday.

   One key Taliban demand is the trading of the 22 remaining South Korean captives for an equal number of insurgent prisoners.

   A group of 23 South Korean aid workers were seized at gunpoint by Taliban militants on July 12 from a bus traveling from Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar. Its leader, pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, was found killed by the kidnappers Wednesday.

   The Afghan government, apparently mindful of international criticism, is reportedly reluctant to make any deal with the Taliban for the release of the Koreans, but earlier this year it set free five Taliban prisoners to win the release of an Italian journalist.

   The body of the slain Korean pastor was to be airlifted back to Seoul Sunday, but his family asked their government to delay the plan until all the hostages are released. The government said it would respect the family's request, but noted there could be complications.

   As negotiations to free the Korean captives prolonged, concern has arisen over their health. One of the hostages, Im Hyun-ju, said in what appeared to be a pre-recorded message aired through U.S. broadcaster CBS that all were in unbearable conditions.

   South Korean officials said a package of medicine and food has been passed to the Afghan government for delivery to the hostages.

   "We believe it must have already left the hands of the Afghan government and could have also been delivered to the hostages," an official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry told reporters, asking that he not to be identified due to diplomatic protocol.

   The Taliban have reportedly made various demands for the release of the hostages, including the withdrawal of South Korean troops from Afghanistan and payment of an unspecified amount of ransom.

   On Friday, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported spokesman for the Taliban, said the militants would start killing all the hostages unless the Afghan government met its demands by a 1200 GMT deadline.

   He later hailed the arrival of South Korea's presidential envoy in an exclusive interview with Yonhap News Agency, expressing hope that it will help resolve the situation.

   "We are ready for any negotiations to solve the problem. But negotiations are not easy to move forward as the Afghanistan government does not accept our demand for the exchange of Taliban prisoners and hostages," Ahmadi said.

   The self-described spokesman was quoted as saying late Friday that the Taliban have decided to indefinitely extend the deadline as long as negotiations are underway.

   bdk@yna.co.kr
(END)