Hydrablog

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/28/AR2007082801819.html
Deal Reached For Release Of S. Koreans
19 Christians Held by Taliban To Be Freed in 'Near Future'
By Griff Witte and Blaine Harden
Washington Post Foreign Service
Wednesday, August 29, 2007; A12 [Afghanistan] [hydra] [insurgency] [followup] [the British having some success that others may learn from?] [the 2007 offensive and mixed messages] [on the one hand, NATO seemed to anticipate and stymied Taliban and al Qaeda fighters on several fronts] [the commonality of hostage taking] [*******] [ditto]
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 28 -- Negotiators in Afghanistan said Tuesday they had reached agreement on a deal that will allow 19 South Korean church volunteers to go free after six weeks in Taliban captivity, apparently ending a hostage crisis that has gripped both nations, officials said.
While the hostages had not been released as of late Tuesday, Taliban leaders said they would be freed within the next few days.
According to the agreement, South Korea said it would withdraw its 200 noncombat troops in Afghanistan by the end of this year -- a move it had previously said it would take -- and ban missionary work by Korean Christians in the country.
An official with the International Committee of the Red Cross, which had helped facilitate the negotiations, said they concluded successfully. "In the very near future, all of the hostages will be released. It is a comprehensive agreement," said Reto Stocker, head of the agency's delegation in Afghanistan.
The Taliban initially took 23 South Koreans hostage, but two -- including a church pastor -- were killed by their captors. Two female hostages were freed Aug. 13. The church members were abducted July 19 in the central Afghan province of Ghazni as they traveled by bus along the treacherous highway linking the capital, Kabul, with the southern city of Kandahar.
In Seoul on Tuesday night, families of the hostages reacted to news of the agreement with whoops of joy, hugging and tears.
"I would like to dance," Cho Myung Ho, mother of 28-year-old hostage Lee Joo Yeon, told reporters after hearing of the deal.
Later, the outpouring of emotion and relief suddenly dissipated as many of the hostages' relatives appeared at a nationally televised news conference. They stood stoically in what appeared to be a show of collective remorse, and their spokesman apologized for a 41-day-long hostage drama that they acknowledged had upset the people and government of South Korea.
"We are very sorry to cause the nation so much concern and worry," said Cha Sung Min, whose 32-year-old sister, Cha Hye Jin, was one of the hostages.
South Korea appeared to give up little of substance in its negotiations. The government had already said it would be withdrawing its troops and has long sought to prevent missionaries from working in countries where they are unwanted.
The Taliban had alleged that the abducted Koreans were missionaries, but the Korean government and relatives of the hostages had insisted they were in Afghanistan doing aid work.
The abduction of the Koreans, coupled with other recent kidnappings, has ignited fears among foreigners in Afghanistan that the Taliban has developed a strategic plan to kidnap others. One German and four Afghans are still being held by the group.
The Taliban's demands had originally included the release of a Taliban prisoner for every Korean hostage. That put the Afghan government in an awkward position.
In the spring, the government had promised that it would no longer trade prisoners for hostages, following a particularly embarrassing exchange in March in which the government freed five Taliban fighters in return for an Italian journalist. The deal did not include an Afghan journalist who was also being held, and he was subsequently killed.
Cheon Ho Sun, a spokesman for the South Korean president, said the Taliban was eventually convinced that any prisoner exchange was far beyond the power of South Korea.
"The Taliban appear to understand our point," Cheon said. "It also seems that they were inconvenienced by holding as many as 19 people for such a long time."
In the past, the Taliban has accepted money for hostages, and a member of the Afghan parliament from Ghazni, Abul Jabar Shergaray, said the Taliban "had been asking for $1 million for every Korean."
Korean officials, however, denied that money was discussed as part of the deal.
A purported Taliban spokesman said the exact timing of the hostages' release was still being worked out.
"We might release them altogether or in groups, but I can't disclose this now," said Qari Yousaf Ahmadi.
Elsewhere in Afghanistan on Tuesday, U.S.-led coalition forces reported that more than 100 Taliban insurgents were killed in intense fighting in the southern province of Kandahar. In the eastern part of the country, three NATO soldiers were killed and six others injured by a suicide blast. While NATO did not release the soldiers' nationalities, most troops in the east are Americans.
Harden reported from Seoul. Special correspondents Javed Hamdard in Kabul and Imtiaz Ali in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
© 2007 The Washington Post Company