S Korean hostages enter third week of captivity

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GHAZNI, Afghanistan, Aug 2 (AFP): Twenty-one South Koreans began a third week of captivity in southern Afghanistan Thursday under the threat of execution by their Taliban captors who have already shot dead two others.
The Islamic militants said late Wednesday they had not killed more of the aid workers after the expiry of a new deadline because the chance of direct talks with a South Korean delegation could open a "new phase of negotiations."
Nonetheless, one or more of the hostages could be killed at "any time," spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP, saying also that talks with government negotiators Wednesday had made no progress.
The insurgent movement is demanding the release of at least eight of its men from Afghan jails, which authorities have so far rejected. There have been reports that the South Korean government has offered a ransom.
Residents of Ghazni, where the aid workers were captured July 19, reported Wednesday a security build-up but officials denied a military operation was imminent to extract the hostages, most of them women and sick.
Military choppers dropped leaflets in the province, including the Qarabagh district where the South Koreans were captured, asking residents "to evacuate to safe areas or keep under cover in safe places" with an operation imminent.
The defence ministry denied however this would be a bid to free the captives, saying it was a routine exercise that had been planned months ago and "has no links to the South Korean hostages issue."