Source:         www.assistnews.net

Date:            July 29, 2007

Says it is a “a grave violation of human dignity”

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

CASTEL GANDOLFO, ITALY (ANS) -- Pope Benedict XVI, on Sunday (July 29), called for the release of the Korean hostages being held in Afghanistan by the Taliban.

A story from the Associated Press (AP) said that the Pope, speaking from Castel Gandolfo, his summer retreat in the hills south of Rome, Benedict had issued an appeal for the release of Korean hostages, saying their abduction represented “a grave violation of human dignity.”

“I issue my appeal so that the perpetrators of such criminal acts desist from the evil they have carried out and give back their victims unharmed,” the pope said.

The AP story added, “The 22 Koreans held hostage in Afghanistan were seized on July 19. Originally there were 23 captives, but one has been shot dead.”

Meanwhile, the Times of India reports that Taliban militants “threatened on Sunday to start killing their 22 South Korean hostages if the government did not accept by noon Monday their demand for the release of jailed rebels.”

The story went on to say, “A government negotiator repeated however that there would be no prisoner exchange and said the Islamic extremists must free the 16 women in the group of Christian aid workers before other demands would be considered.”

Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahmadi, was quoted as saying, “We give a last deadline of tomorrow 12 o'clock (0730 GMT) to the Afghan government to give us their last word if they can release our eight suggested prisoners,”.

“Otherwise we will start killing the hostages,” he said. Four other deadlines set by the militants have lapsed without incident but the Taliban on Saturday expressed impatience, saying 17 of the South Koreans captured 11 days ago were ill and talks must be “speeded up.”

The militants however shot dead the leader of the group, 42-year-old Presbyterian pastor Bae Hyung-Kyu, on Wednesday saying he was killed because talks on the crisis had stalled.

The South Koreans had been divided into small groups and were being held in three different provinces, Ahmadi said.

“Some of the hostages have some health problems due to the weather or psychological pressure they feel,” he said.

Temperatures are in the high 30s Celsius (90s Fahrenheit) in the southern province of Ghazni, where the group was kidnapped July 19.

A leading member of a government-appointed negotiating team, Mahmood Gailani, again ruled out releasing Taliban militants.

“It's not government policy to exchange prisoners. No prisoners will be released,” said Gailani, a parliamentarian from Ghazni.

The government was widely criticized when it released five Taliban prisoners in March to free an Italian hostage and President Hamid Karzai vowed afterwards such a deal would not be repeated.

The women must be released before the government would consider other Taliban demands, Gailani said, adding that in “Islamic law and Afghan culture we cannot harm women and should not take women as hostages and prisoners.”

Asked if the payment of ransom was a possibility, he said: “We are still exploring our options. We should hear from their side and what their demands are.”

Ghazni governor Mirajuddin Pattan added: “After they free the women, we are ready to negotiate with them about the male hostages.”

An envoy dispatched from Seoul after the pastor was killed met Karzai over the crisis and said his government would accept “any position” taken by Kabul, according to the president's office said.

“We are well aware of the Afghan culture and the difficulties the Afghan government and people are faced with in their fight against terrorism, and will respect their decision to end the hostage crisis,” the envoy, Baek Jong-Chunwas, was cited as saying.