Karzai, Bush to meet amid ROK hostage standoff
Monday, 6 August 2007
GHAZNI, Aug 5 (AFP): South Korea said Sunday it hoped a meeting between the Afghan and US presidents could break the apparent deadlock in negotiations for the release of 21 aid workers held hostage by the Taliban.
President Hamid Karzai was to meet with US President George W Bush later Sunday to discuss a range of issues -- from the US-led "war on terror" being played out in Afghanistan to the country's booming opium production.
But the Camp David meeting risks being overshadowed by the South Korean hostage drama in which Kabul, apparently backed by Washington, is refusing the Taliban's demand for the release of jailed militants.
The hardline Islamic militia has murdered two men in the group of church aid workers kidnapped in volatile southern Ghazni province on July 19 and has warned more could be killed if their demands are not met.
"We are hopeful of any positive outcome from the meeting," an official at the South Korean embassy in Kabul said, after Karzai headed to the United States with some of his most senior officials.
"It is the decision of the Afghan government. We want to solve this in a peaceful and constructive way," the official said, requesting anonymity.
The official and families of the captives in Seoul refused to comment on an emotional plea for help Saturday from a purported hostage whom a Taliban spokesman put into contact with the news agency.
"I don't want to die. We want to go home," the woman said by telephone from an undisclosed location. "I don't know how long we can survive."
There was no way to verify that the woman in fact belongs to the group seized 17 days ago on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, considered a no-go area by many foreigners amid deteriorating security across the country.
The call appears to have been aimed at intensifying pressure on the Afghan government as talks on the fate of the hostages seem to be stalled.
Afghan negotiators again Saturday ruled out a prisoner exchange and said any deal to free the group would have to involve a ransom payout.
Talks were now being conducted mainly by a South Korean delegation, said Mahmood Gailani, a member of the Afghan negotiating team.
The South Korean embassy official said Sunday: "We have contact but we cannot confirm the channel. We are using all possible means to mobilise help or support from all over the world."
The Afghan interior ministry said meanwhile officials were doing what they could.
"We will not spare any efforts for their safe release," ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said, while refusing to be drawn on whether the use of force was a possibility.
"We will try to solve this through talking. We cannot clearly say what we would do if the negotiations fail," he said.
The Taliban-led insurgency has grown stronger each year since it was launched soon after the hardliners were driven from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001 for sheltering the Al-Qaeda group behind the 9/11 attacks.
Today Washington, which once funded some of the groups now fighting the government, is the main supplier of international troops to help Kabul fight back the rebels and of aid to help the war-ravaged country rebuild.
President Hamid Karzai was to meet with US President George W Bush later Sunday to discuss a range of issues -- from the US-led "war on terror" being played out in Afghanistan to the country's booming opium production.
But the Camp David meeting risks being overshadowed by the South Korean hostage drama in which Kabul, apparently backed by Washington, is refusing the Taliban's demand for the release of jailed militants.
The hardline Islamic militia has murdered two men in the group of church aid workers kidnapped in volatile southern Ghazni province on July 19 and has warned more could be killed if their demands are not met.
"We are hopeful of any positive outcome from the meeting," an official at the South Korean embassy in Kabul said, after Karzai headed to the United States with some of his most senior officials.
"It is the decision of the Afghan government. We want to solve this in a peaceful and constructive way," the official said, requesting anonymity.
The official and families of the captives in Seoul refused to comment on an emotional plea for help Saturday from a purported hostage whom a Taliban spokesman put into contact with the news agency.
"I don't want to die. We want to go home," the woman said by telephone from an undisclosed location. "I don't know how long we can survive."
There was no way to verify that the woman in fact belongs to the group seized 17 days ago on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, considered a no-go area by many foreigners amid deteriorating security across the country.
The call appears to have been aimed at intensifying pressure on the Afghan government as talks on the fate of the hostages seem to be stalled.
Afghan negotiators again Saturday ruled out a prisoner exchange and said any deal to free the group would have to involve a ransom payout.
Talks were now being conducted mainly by a South Korean delegation, said Mahmood Gailani, a member of the Afghan negotiating team.
The South Korean embassy official said Sunday: "We have contact but we cannot confirm the channel. We are using all possible means to mobilise help or support from all over the world."
The Afghan interior ministry said meanwhile officials were doing what they could.
"We will not spare any efforts for their safe release," ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary said, while refusing to be drawn on whether the use of force was a possibility.
"We will try to solve this through talking. We cannot clearly say what we would do if the negotiations fail," he said.
The Taliban-led insurgency has grown stronger each year since it was launched soon after the hardliners were driven from power in a US-led invasion in late 2001 for sheltering the Al-Qaeda group behind the 9/11 attacks.
Today Washington, which once funded some of the groups now fighting the government, is the main supplier of international troops to help Kabul fight back the rebels and of aid to help the war-ravaged country rebuild.