KABUL, 15 November 2004 — Militants threatening to kill three UN workers held hostage in Afghanistan set a fresh deadline yesterday for their demands and blamed the United States for slowing up negotiations.

Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), which seized the three foreign workers on Oct. 28, said the Afghan government had until today to meet its demands.

“We have extended the deadline,” said Sayed Khaled, who claims to speak for the group which has set and broken a series of deadlines.

“If they did not act on what they had promised and if they did not meet our demands then our Shoura (tribal council) will make the final decision Monday evening.”

Khaled, speaking by telephone from an unknown location, blamed comments by US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage for hindering negotiations.

The group has handed over a list of 26 prisoners it wants to swap for the hostages and was in talks with the Afghan government earlier this week.

Khaled said the government had been able to locate 18 of the 26 prisoners on the list and was searching for the remaining eight when comments by Armitage stalled the process.

On a visit to Afghanistan Wednesday, Armitage said the United States believed negotiating with hostage-takers would only encourage more kidnappings.

“The talks were going on and there was good enough development to release our prisoners,” Khaled said.

“Armitage slowed down the process. We call on UN if they are an independent organization and if the Afghan government is independent then they should act on their own initiatives, not on instructions by Armitage. Otherwise it is they who will lose, not us,” he added.

There had been hopes that the hostages would be freed Saturday, on the eve of the three-day Eid Al-Fitr holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan.

Khaled also repeated the threat to kill the three hostages if the kidnappers’ demands were not met.

“Our prisoners will be finally released if not now in months time or in years but it will be their workers who will lose their lives. They should remember that it is the question (of) three people’s lives,” he said.

Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Shqipe Habibi from Kosovo, and Angelito Nayan, a diplomat from the Philippines, were snatched from their vehicle in busy lunchtime traffic in Kabul on Oct. 28.