GHAZNI, Afghanistan, 12 August 2007 — A Taleban spokesman said yesterday that the militants would release two sick female South Korean hostages “soon” for the sake of good relations between the Taleban and South Korea, but international Red Cross and Afghan officials could not immediately confirm the claim.

Taleban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said the two women would be freed because they are sick. He said the decision had been made by the Taleban’s high commanders, but he added that they had yet to decide on when the women would be freed.

Two Taleban leaders and four South Korean officials met yesterday for the second day of face-to-face talks over the fate of 21 South Korean hostages being held since July 19 by the militants. The talks are being held at the Afghan Red Cross office in Ghazni. The International Committee of the Red Cross said it was helping facilitate the talks as a neutral intermediary.

The two Taleban leaders said earlier yesterday that the Koreans would “definitely” be released and possibly as soon as “today or tomorrow.”

“The Taleban’s big commanders have decided for the sake of good relations between the Taleban and the Korean people that without any conditions they are soon going to release two sick women,” Ahmadi said.

Franz Rauchenstein, an official with the International Committee of the Red Cross, said neither the Taleban nor South Korean officials had talked to the Afghan Red Cross about facilitating the release of hostages, and that he could not confirm that two women were to be released.

Marajudin Pathan, the local governor, said he had not heard that two women would be released and that it had not been discussed during negotiations yesterday. He said talks would continue today.

“Qari Ahmadi (the Taleban spokesman) is somewhere in Pakistan,” Pathan said. “He’s just talking nonsense. They (the Taleban) are always giving contradictory statements.”

Pathan said he did not think the hostage crisis would be resolved by acceding to Taleban demands to release their imprisoned militants, “but we’ll see if it’s by some other avenue.” He refused to specify if that meant a ransom payment, though he has said previously he thought money would resolve the situation.

Mullah Qari Bashir, one of the Taleban negotiators, said the face-to-face talks were going well and that the Taleban were sticking with their original demand that 21 Taleban prisoners be released from prisons in Afghanistan.

“God willing, the government (of Afghanistan) and the government of Korea will accept this,” Bashir said outside the Afghan Red Cross office in Ghazni. “Definitely these people will be released. God willing, our friends (Taleban militants in prison) will be released.”

Asked when the Koreans might be freed, he said: “Hopefully today or tomorrow. I’m very optimistic. The negotiations are continuing on a positive track.”

South Korea took a cautious approach to the negotiations. “A quick release is a good thing but we don’t see that the possibility of the quick release is high,” a South Korean official in Seoul told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the issue.