Face-to-face negotiations between the Taliban and South Korean
officials on South Korean hostages will be resumed on Thursday
morning in central Afghanistan, a purported Taliban spokesman
Yousuf Ahmadi told Xinhua from an undisclosed place on
Wednesday.
The talks will restart at 10:00 AM local time (05:30 GMT) in
Ghazni city, the capital of Ghazni province, Ahmadi said, adding"
yesterday and today, the two sides are keeping contact through
telephone."
From Friday night to Monday, the first round of face-to-face
talks was carried out in Ghazni city, but the talks are temporarily
being shelved from Tuesday to Wednesday after two female hostages
were released on Monday afternoon.
The Taliban said the two female were freed as the Taliban
leadership wanted to show a "good gesture" toward South Korean
authorities.
Meanwhile, the Taliban spokesman Ahmadi insisted the remaining
19 hostages would not be released if the Taliban's demands for the
liberty of some Taliban prisoners were not met.
A total of 23 South Koreans were kidnapped by Taliban militants
on a road in Ghazni province on July 19.
Taliban rebels shot dead two male hostages on July 25 and July
30 separately to press Afghan and South Korean authorities to meet
their demands.
The Afghan government has refused to release Taliban prisoners
as the Taliban has demanded to exchange for the hostages.
Taliban militants have carried out kidnappings in Afghanistan
over the past two years frequently, and some hostages were
killed.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2007)
