Wednesday 29 August 2007

Taliban win exclusion of S Korean army, missionaries

The Taliban has agreed to release the 19 South Korean hostages held in Afghanistan in return for the withdrawal of South Korean troops from the country before the end of the year, Al Jazeera television has reported.

The Qatar-based channel said it had received the report from its Kabul correspondent: “There was an agreement between the Taliban and a South Korean delegation to release the hostages in return for the withdrawal of the troops before the end of the year.”

A South Korean presidential spokesman has confirmed the reports but has added that many details still had to be worked out, and that it may take some time before the actual release takes place.

The Taliban reportedly only agreed to the release after South Korea agreed to meet other conditions such as halting its citizens from conducting any Christian missionary activity in the Middle Eastern country. Read more

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a disgrace - the most massive incentive ever offered to murderers to take more hostages.

Hard as it is for those held captive, the risks involved in entering Afghanistan are high and well known in advance.

The release of this group will now lead to the capture of many more.

Unknown said...

David,

Thanks for your comment. Can you please provide us with a basic location, as required by the comments policy. (County/State will do.)

John

Anonymous said...

I am happy to provide some details - but there's no box on the page for "location"...

David, London

Unknown said...

Er - I think you've just done it. London, right? ;-)

Many thanks.

Peter Kirk said...

(Chelmsford)

I trust that now the hostages have been released the South Korean government will, at least quietly, ignore the undertakings extracted from them under duress and encourage their citizens to show to Afghanistan through humanitarian aid the love of Christ, which is the only true hope for that troubled country.