Freed S Koreans prepare to head home

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Kim Gin-A (left), 32, and Kim Kyung-Ja (right), 37, smiling for the camera before leaving for Afghanistan at Incheon International Airport.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Aug 14 (AFP): Two South Korean women freed by Afghanistan's Taliban after more than three weeks in captivity prepared to head home Tuesday as fresh talks began over the release of their 19 compatriots.
Kim Gin-A, 32, and Kim Kyung-Ja, 37, spent the night at a "safe place" in Afghanistan and arrangements were being made for their departure, the South Korean embassy in Kabul said.
Pale, tearful and clutching Muslim headscarves, they were handed over to international aid agency officials near the southern Afghan town of Ghazni late Monday, ending an ordeal that began July 19.
A foreign ministry official in Seoul said the women were to have medical check-ups at the Bagram military base north of Kabul before being flown home.
There was joy and relief in Seoul that two of the group had been freed, but concern for the remaining 19 South Korean hostages.
The Taliban abducted the 23-member Christian aid group, including 16 women, on July 19 as they were travelling by bus through insurgency-plagued southern Afghanistan.
The militants have shot dead two of men from the group and threatened to kill more if the Afghan government does not free Taliban prisoners, a demand that has been repeatedly rejected.
South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun told a cabinet meeting he hoped Monday's releases "will be a good signal for the release of all the hostages."
"The government has to make greater efforts to have them released. We shouldn't relax until the last moment," Roh said.
Kim Ji-Ung, a brother of Kim Gin-A, said he was relieved but "at the same time I have a heavy heart because of the other hostages who are still in captivity."
A new round of talks -- the fifth -- between Taliban negotiators and a South Korean delegation in Ghazni were expected Tuesday.
"The talks will continue," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said Monday after the two were freed.
"As we freed two sick female hostages as a gesture of goodwill we hope that the Afghan government will also free our prisoners," Ahmadi told the news agency.
The embassy could not confirm if talks were under way Tuesday but a spokesman said the "negotiation channel" was still open.
The talks are being held at the offices of the Afghan Red Crescent Society in Ghazni, a town 140 kilometres (90 miles) south of Kabul.