 GHAZNI, Afghanistan - Afghanistan’s Taleban expressed impatience Saturday over talks to free 22 South Koreans it captured 10 days ago but government negotiators ruled out their demand for the release of prisoners. “Seventeen of the hostages are sick. If anything happens to them, the Afghan government and the South Korean government will be responsible,” spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said. “They have to speed up the process of releasing our suggested prisoners.”
| Funny, we thought the hostage-takers were responsible for the welfare of the hostages. Must be a western construct. |
| 17 hostages sick, one murdered. Someday there may be a Nuremburg trial. I hope somebody's taking this all down. Oh. Wait. It's us. |
The Islamist group has threatened to kill all 22 hostages if its demand for the release of eight Taleban prisoners was not met. It shot dead the leader of the mission this week and dumped his body in the desert.
| And it has nothing against murdering women, after abusing them, of course. |
The group has not set a deadline after a series of others lapsed without incident. “We have given them (the government) our list and we are waiting for our prisoners to be released,” Ahmadi said. A Taleban commander involved in negotiations, Abdullah Jan, told AFP, “We will accept no other solution but the release our eight prisoners.”
| Likely not to happen given the criticism they took on the last prisoner exchange. |
But a member of the government negotiating team said the release of prisoners was “out of discussion.”
| Okay, okay, it just might. |
“The government policy is very clear — not to release any prisoners,” said parliamentarian Mahmood Gailani. “We have not been given the mandate to exchange prisoners,” he told AFP. |