YONHAP NEWS

Seoul remains cautious on reported deal with Taliban for release of 19 hostages

By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, Aug. 26 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government remained calm Sunday despite reports that a deal has been reached on the release of 19 South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, but indicated that progress was being made in negotiations.
"There is no agreement yet for the release of the hostages," a Foreign Ministry official said, asking that he not be identified. "Currently, we are moving on all fronts for the release of the hostages so there could be an outcome within days."
The official was commenting on a report by the Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) a day earlier that the Koreans will soon be released in a deal, in which the Seoul government has agreed to withdraw within "weeks" its 200-member army engineering unit deployed in the war-torn country.

   Quoting an unidentified Afghan source, the news agency said the Taliban and the South Korean government were expected to make an official announcement of the deal on Sunday.

   The reported deal, if true, means a major change in the Taliban's position. The militant Islamic fundamentalist group had demanded that the Koreans be traded for an equal number of Taliban prisoners.

   Twenty-three South Korean aid workers were taken hostage on July 19 while traveling from Kabul to the southeastern city of Kandahar. The kidnappers later killed two male hostages but set free two female captives.

   Also on Sunday, Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that the Taliban have asked for US$100,000 in ransom for each Korean hostage. There was no immediate official South Korean confirmation of the report.

   South Korean officials said they were still in contact with the Taliban by telephone and other means of communications for the release of the hostages.
The Afghan government has refused to release any Taliban prisoners in exchange for the Koreans, but Seoul is hoping that some insurgent prisoners will be included in the list of prisoners to be pardoned on Ramadan, the holiest month for the Islamic faith, which starts on Sept. 13.

   The United States, which is holding a number of Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan, has also ruled out any deal with the Taliban, which it believes are linked to the international terrorist group al-Qaeda.

   In a letter to former President Kim Dae-jung Sunday, Christopher Hill, a U.S. assistant secretary of state for Asian-Pacific affairs, said the safety of the Korean hostages in Afghanistan is the top priority of U.S. forces there and that the United States would render any assistance to the South Korean government to overcome the hostage situation.

   Hill responded to a letter Kim had sent to U.S. President George W. Bush, appealing for Washington's help for the release of the Korean hostages, Kim's aides said.

   bdk@yna.co.kr
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