A South Korean official says Seoul and Washington have agreed not to use force to free 21 South Korean hostages held in Afghanistan. The official was speaking today after a meeting between South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte in the Philippines. Both are in Manila for a regional security forum.
Foreign ministers attending the forum have condemned the kidnappings as an act of terrorism. They called on Taliban militants to release the remaining hostages immediately.
The Taliban kidnapped 23 South Korean church aid workers on July 19, and have executed two of them.
They have threatened to kill more of the hostages unless the Kabul government agrees to free eight Taliban militants from its jails. But several deadlines set by the Taliban have passed without the militants acting on their threats.
The Afghan government has refused to give in to the Taliban's demands to free prisoners, saying that would only encourage further abductions.
Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zemari Bashari on August 1 told RFE/RL's Radio Free Afghanistan that police are in the area, but no action to free the hostages has been launched.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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