YONHAP NEWS

(LEAD) Taliban say two sick S. Korean hostages to be released within hours

DUBAI/SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Yonhap) -- Two of the 21 South Koreans held hostage in Afghanistan will be released within a few hours as the result of face-to-face negotiations between South Korean officials and the Taliban, a purported spokesman for the militant group told Yonhap News Agency Saturday.

   Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said the release of the two hostages, who were earlier said to be in life-threatening health conditions, was a "gift" to the people of South Korea and Afghanistan, adding that there were no conditions for their release.

   "The release can be (done) as early as tonight," he said in a telephone interview with Yonhap, adding that the decision came directly from the leadership council of the Taliban, the group's highest decision-making body, headed by the elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar.

   Ahmadi earlier said the militants will not release any hostages unless an equal number of jailed Taliban fighters are freed.

   Officials in Seoul refused to confirm the report, but said the government will not make any official comments until the hostages are taken to a safe area after their release.

   An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, later hinted at a possible deal between the South Korean negotiators in Afghanistan and the militant group, saying, "We will find out in a couple of days whether they (the hostages) will actually be released."
The Taliban rebels had demanded the hostages be traded with the same number of jailed Taliban prisoners, a demand rejected by Kabul and Washington, which believe the Afghan militants are linked to the international terrorist group Al-Qaeda.

   The U.S. is leading an international coalition in Afghanistan, which helped oust the Taliban government in 2001 as retaliation for providing a hideout for the infamous Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

   The first face-to-face talks between South Korean officials and the Taliban took place Friday as the hostage crisis entered its fourth week.

   An official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry said the sides again met Saturday and "are maintaining contacts," and will continue to do so.

   Twenty-three South Korean aid workers were taken hostage while traveling on a highway from Kabul to Kandahar, where they were to provide free medical services for Afghan people. Two male hostages, including the 42-year-old leader of the aid group, Bae Hyung-kyu, were shot and killed.

   The two female hostages, reportedly set to be freed, were earlier said to be in life-threatening health conditions. The purported Taliban spokesman, however, had claimed the hostages had been treated by their own doctors.

   bdk@yna.co.kr
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