KANDAHAR, Afghanistan, 25 July 2007 — The Taleban said talks over the fate of 23 South Korean hostages were at a crucial stage yesterday after the latest deadline for their lives passed.
The militants gave a list of eight jailed rebels they want released to the government, and said it would free the same number of the Korean Christian aid workers in exchange.
The development came as the Taleban said that a German captive, who was abducted separately, was very sick and was drifting in and out of consciousness.
“The negotiations continue. Right now they are in a very sensitive phase,” Taleban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said by telephone from an undisclosed location as the 1430 GMT deadline expired.
The Taleban have already granted two 24-hour extensions. “We’ll talk later about the results rather than about the deadline which passed,” Ahmadi said.
The group earlier called on both Germany and South Korea to pull their troops out of the war-battered country and for the release of a total of 33 insurgents held by Afghan authorities in exchange for the hostages.
A South Korean delegation, which flew into the country at the weekend, arrived yesterday in the southern province of Ghazni where the hostages are being held to conduct the first direct talks with the Taleban.
Those talks led to the handing over of the list of Taleban prisoners.
