Posted on 07/30/2007 3:09:20 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
(LEAD) Taliban commander reportedly says Korean hostage talks failed, vows to kill captives
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- An unidentified commander of the Taliban on Monday said negotiations with the Afghan government for the lives of 22 South Korean hostages have completely failed and that the Taliban militants would start killing the hostages, the Afghan Islamic Press reported.
The reported remarks from the purported Taliban commander came after the Afghan government refused to release Taliban prisoners in exchange for the South Korean captives by a 0730 GMT deadline.
South Korean officials in Seoul, however, said "various contacts" between the Afghan government and the Taliban were still underway.
The Taliban commander, who refused to give his name, said the talks have "completely" failed and that the Taliban militants have decided to kill the hostages, according to the AIP report.
Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, a purported spokesman for the militant group, on Sunday said the Taliban leadership had decided to kill "some" of the hostages if Kabul failed to release a corresponding number of Taliban prisoners by the deadline.
Attempts to reach the purported spokesman for confirmation went unanswered as the spokesman appeared to have turned off his satellite phone.
Twenty-three South Koreans were seized on July 19 while traveling on a highway from the Afghan capital Kabul to the southern city of Kandahar to do aid work there. The leader of the group, 42-year-old pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, has been found dead. His body arrived in South Korea on Monday.
Ping!
Agreed.
Like they weren't going to do that anyway.
i think it is fairly hopeless, sorry to say
Hopeless because the response has been to either
pay or do nothing.
The terrorists do not (yet) fear the response.
My prayers for them to still be saved will continue.
The sorrow I feel at reading this, will not fit into words.
The waiting, for the hostages, has to be unbearable.
Prayers for these Christians who were working to spread the Word of God.
Prayers for their families.
Now, this IS the Religion of Peace we hear so much about lately from high places, isn’t it? It is the same one? ANd don’t try to slide out of it by calling teh Taliban the lunatic fringe!
What are the chances that the ROK army might deploy to Afghanistan much like they did in Vietnam?
Seem to recall that the Capital (Tiger) Division did pretty well in Vietnam, and ‘Charley’ went out of his way to avoid their sector after about two months.
Wonder how long it’s going to take before the Taliban learns to leave them (and Korean Citizens) alone.
Get a few of their leaders hanged with safety wire, I bet they’ll be much more careful of who they kidnap and kill...
P!ss off the Koreans.
Good plan...
I certainly hope that the ROK troops are still like the ones that I remember from Viet Nam. If they harm any of those young people, the ROK troops there will make them regret even the day their parents met.
In other words, the Talibunnies want more money.
They should send in the military to ensure that they join their victims.
Calvinist_Dark_Lord,
My unit met up with some ROK troops outside of Qui Nhon so that the ROKs could transfer captured VC weapons to us. I remember examining an SKS assault rifle with at least 5 bullet holes in it, and wondering to myself what its owner looked like if this was just the weapon he was holding.
They probably weren't too impressed with old Uncle Ho's people, seeing as how they have a serious threat on their northern border. They definately left a few impressions on the VC and NVA regulars...5.56 and 7.62mm impressions. Heard rumors that they had a somewhat unique way of doing body counts...ears.
Funniest story i heard about that time was those creative kids in SOG. It was their practise when finding a VC cache of weapons and ammo to sabatoge a few rounds of ammo. Pull the bullet, dump the nitrocellulose, and replace it with petin (det cord), recrimp the round.
A few VC were found with the bolts of their AK-47's blown through their eye, and out the back of their heads.
SOG then ginned up a 'letter' supposedly from the CHICOM govt to the NVA about how they were aware of the 'quality control' problem with AK-47 ammo, and how they expect to get improved rounds into the system in about two months...
Of course, VC realised that it would take YEARS for those rounds to filter into the supply chain. Probably one of the best disinfo events ever.
i can't speak for the VC, but it sure would have made me reluctant to ever pull the trigger again.
Fox News just reported through Reuters that one male hostage has been executed by the Taliban. No confirmation yet.
Since the Talibans have named those that they want released, i.e. picked the targets, the rational response would be to execute 5 of these prisoners for each hostage killed.
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