Taliban free three hostages

QALA-E-KAZI – Taliban militants released three South Korean hostages yesterday, the first of 19 captives scheduled to be freed under a deal struck between the insurgents and the South Korean government.

An Afghan government minister, however, criticised Seoul for the terms of the deal, in which it reiterated an existing commitment to withdraw its 200 troops from the country before the end of the year. “One has to say that this release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger,” the country’s commerce minister, Amin Farhang, said in an interview with Germany’s Bayerischer Rundfunk radio.”We fear that this decision could become a precedent.The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan.”The three, all women, were first handed to tribal leaders, who took them to an agreed location where officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross picked them up, according to an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the hand-over.The women arrived in the central Afghan village of Qala-E-Kazi in a single car, their heads covered with red and green shawls.They said nothing to reporters, who were asked by Red Cross representatives not to question them.Red Cross officials quickly took the three to their vehicles before leaving for the local Red Cross headquarters in the nearby town of Ghazni, witnesses said.In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong said the three, who he identified as Ahn Hye-jin, Lee Jung-ran and Han Ji-young, did not appear to have any health problems.To secure the release of the church workers, South Korea reaffirmed a pledge it made well before the hostage crisis began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year and prevent South Korean Christian missionaries from working there.Seoul had already said it had banned missionaries from travelling to Afghanistan.The Taliban apparently backed down on earlier demands for a prisoner exchange.The Taliban originally kidnapped 23 hostages as they travelled by bus from Kabul to the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on July 19.Nampa-AP”One has to say that this release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger,” the country’s commerce minister, Amin Farhang, said in an interview with Germany’s Bayerischer Rundfunk radio.”We fear that this decision could become a precedent.The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan.”The three, all women, were first handed to tribal leaders, who took them to an agreed location where officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross picked them up, according to an Associated Press reporter who witnessed the hand-over.The women arrived in the central Afghan village of Qala-E-Kazi in a single car, their heads covered with red and green shawls.They said nothing to reporters, who were asked by Red Cross representatives not to question them.Red Cross officials quickly took the three to their vehicles before leaving for the local Red Cross headquarters in the nearby town of Ghazni, witnesses said.In Seoul, South Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman Cho Hee-yong said the three, who he identified as Ahn Hye-jin, Lee Jung-ran and Han Ji-young, did not appear to have any health problems.To secure the release of the church workers, South Korea reaffirmed a pledge it made well before the hostage crisis began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year and prevent South Korean Christian missionaries from working there.Seoul had already said it had banned missionaries from travelling to Afghanistan.The Taliban apparently backed down on earlier demands for a prisoner exchange.The Taliban originally kidnapped 23 hostages as they travelled by bus from Kabul to the former Taliban stronghold of Kandahar on July 19.Nampa-AP