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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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Seoul to Taliban: Our Hands Are Tied

Frustrated South Korean govt. lacks authority to satisfy kidnappers' demands

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(Newser) – South Korean officials on a desperate mission to Afghanistan are attempting to impress upon the Taliban that they cannot single-handedly meet the organization's demands. The delegation has been in contact with the kidnappers in an efforts to negotiate the release of 21 South Korean hostages, Reuters reports, but it can't guarantee the liberation of Taliban prisoners in Afghan custody.

The Taliban is prepared to negotiate further, but on the condition that if talks take place outside areas it controls, the UN issue security guarantees. Meanwhile, a South Korean delegation to Washington is calling for more direct American action, but the US isn't budging on its longstanding policy not to make concessions to terrorist groups.

From left to right, Dr. Razia Sharifi, Dr Hashim Wahaaj, Habibullah Qadari, pray before leaving to Ghazni as they are trying to reach the South Korean hostages to treat them, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Friday, Aug. 3, 2007. Six Afghan health workers leave Kabul to Ghazni on Friday in a...
From left to right, Dr. Razia Sharifi, Dr Hashim Wahaaj, Habibullah Qadari, pray before leaving to Ghazni as they are trying to reach the South Korean hostages to treat them, in Kabul, Afghanistan, on...   (Associated Press)
A U.S. military convoy passes the main road of the Ghazni province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. South Korean and Afghan officials searched for a meeting place Thursday after agreeing to hold face-to-face talks with the Taliban to seek the release of the remaining 21...
A U.S. military convoy passes the main road of the Ghazni province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan on Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. South Korean and Afghan officials searched for a meeting place Thursday after...   (Associated Press)
Relatives of South Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan weep during a news conference calling for their safe return in Sungnam, south of Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 31, 2007. South Korean families pleaded Tuesday for the United States' help to peacefully resolve a 13-day-old hostage standoff in Afghanistan as they mourned...
Relatives of South Koreans kidnapped in Afghanistan weep during a news conference calling for their safe return in Sungnam, south of Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 31, 2007. South Korean families pleaded...   (Associated Press)
Shim Jin-pyo, second from left, father of slain South Korean hostage Shim Sung-min, and other relatives cry as they hold a coffin containing the body of the 29-year-old who was killed in Afghanistan, at a hospital in Sungnam, south of Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. 2, 2007. South Korean and...
Shim Jin-pyo, second from left, father of slain South Korean hostage Shim Sung-min, and other relatives cry as they hold a coffin containing the body of the 29-year-old who was killed in Afghanistan,...   (Associated Press)
South Korean read newspapers reporting South Korean hostages in Afghanistan in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 31, 2007. South Korean families pleaded Tuesday for the United States' help to peacefully resolve a 13-day-old hostage standoff in Afghanistan as they mourned the death of a second captive amid fears that rejecting...
South Korean read newspapers reporting South Korean hostages in Afghanistan in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, July 31, 2007. South Korean families pleaded Tuesday for the United States' help to peacefully...   (Associated Press)
Baek Jong-chun, South Korea's chief presidential secretary for security affairs, expresses condolence to the bereaved at President House in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, July 26, 2007. Baek will fly to Afghanistan later Thursday as a presidential envoy. Afghan police discovered the bullet-riddled body of a male hostage, one of 23...
Baek Jong-chun, South Korea's chief presidential secretary for security affairs, expresses condolence to the bereaved at President House in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, July 26, 2007. Baek will fly to...   (Associated Press)
An Afghan police officer stands guard, left, as another officer inspects a car at a check point in the city of Ghazni province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, Aug. 3, 2007. Search efforts continue after Taliban insurgents kidnapped 23 South Koreans from a bus in southern Afghanistan on July...
An Afghan police officer stands guard, left, as another officer inspects a car at a check point in the city of Ghazni province, west of Kabul, Afghanistan on Friday, Aug. 3, 2007. Search efforts continue...   (Associated Press)
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