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Taliban Ups Demands for 23 Korean Hostages

Kidnappers want full prisoner release

By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 23, 2007 8:33 AM CDT

(Newser) – Taliban militants holding 23 Korean aid workers hostage increased their demands today, insisting that  the government release all insurgent prisoners in the province, according to a kidnap spokesman. The militants threatened to kill the hostages  if a response isn't forthcoming by 10:30 a.m. EDT, the AP reports.

Local leaders were stood up today when they arrived to meet with the kidnappers. In March, Afghan President Hamid Karzai released  five Taliban prisoners in exchange for a kidnapped Italian reporter, invoking strident international criticism. Five Korean officials met with Karzai in Kabul yesterday.

An Afghan man rides a bicycle passes the South Korean embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, July 20, 2007. Taliban militants kidnapped at least 18 South Koreans, including 15 women, at gunpoint from a bus, and a purported spokesman for the group said Friday they would be killed unless Seoul pulled...
An Afghan man rides a bicycle passes the South Korean embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, July 20, 2007. Taliban militants kidnapped at least 18 South Koreans, including 15 women, at gunpoint from...   (Associated Press)
South Korean protester holds up a card  during an anti-war rally demanding the safe return of kidnapped South Koreans in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of South Korean troops from that country near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, Monday, July 23, 2007. South Korea has started preparation to pull its...
South Korean protester holds up a card during an anti-war rally demanding the safe return of kidnapped South Koreans in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of South Korean troops from that country near the...   (Associated Press)
South Korean protesters hold candles during an anti-war rally demanding the safe return of kidnapped South Koreans in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of South Korean troops from that country in Seoul, Sunday, July 22, 2007. South Korea is preparing to negotiate for the release of 23 Koreans kidnapped by the...
South Korean protesters hold candles during an anti-war rally demanding the safe return of kidnapped South Koreans in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of South Korean troops from that country in Seoul,...   (Associated Press)
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