South Korean envoy to step up efforts in Afghanistan

GHAZNI, Afghanistan, July 26 (Reuters) South Korea sent a senior envoy to Afghanistan today to step up efforts to free 22 Christian volunteers held hostage by the Taliban after rebels killed the leader of the church group.

A Taliban spokesman said the remaining hostages were unharmed, despite the passing of a deadline overnight.

''They are safe and alive,'' Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location. The Afghan government, he said, ''has given us hope for a peaceful settlement of the issue''.

Seoul despatched its chief presidential national security advisor, Baek Jong-chun, to boost coordination with the Afghan government in negotiations to free the Koreans.

He is expected to arrive in Afghanistan yesterday which could mean the Taliban may wait till at least then to see what offer, if any, he brings.

The hostages, including 18 women, were abducted from a bus in Ghazni province last week. Ghazni's governor Mirajuddin Pathan urged the Taliban to at least free the women.

''Keeping women as captives has not happened in Afghanistan's history. They should release the women,'' the governor said.

He said the Taliban had given the Afghan government a list of prisoners they wanted freed as part of an exchange, but he could not say if the central government would release them or not.

The Taliban had given the Afghan government until 0160 hrs IST yesterday to agree to exchange the group for imprisoned rebels, but the deadline passed without word from the kidnappers until Yousuf spoke today morning.

General Ali Shah Ahmadzai, provincial police chief of Ghazni province where the 22 remaining hostages were being held, told Reuters the government was keen to resume negotiations with the kidnappers. He also believed the hostages were safe.

The fate of the 22 Christian volunteers had hung in the balance overnight, after the rebels killed one hostage and dumped his bullet-ridden body near where the group were seized last week.

He was identified as the group's leader, Bae Hyung-kyu, a pastor who turned 42 on the day he was killed.

South Korea strongly condemned Bae's killing, calling it an unforgivable atrocity.

''The government and the people of South Korea condemn the kidnapping of innocent civilians and the atrocity of harming a human life,'' said Baek before he left for Afghanistan.

''Harming innocent civilians can never be justified and we will never forgive this kind of inhumane act,'' he said in a nationally televised statement.

The hostages' families made an impassioned plea to the Taliban.

''Our families went there for volunteer work. They spent time to heal the sick and share their pain ... Members of the Taliban, please consider the pain their family members are going through,'' they said in a statement.

BAD FAITH The Taliban accused the government and South Korean negotiators of failing to act in good faith after Kabul rejected demands for eight named rebels to be freed from prison.

Initially the Taliban had also insisted South Korea withdraw its 200 troops serving with international forces in Afghanistan -- something Seoul planned to do at the end of the year anyway.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged not to swap prisoners for hostages after being criticised for releasing five Taliban from jail in March in exchange for an Italian reporter.

But the president and ministers have remained silent throughout the latest hostage ordeal.

''The president is following events very closely,'' was all that Karzai's spokesman would say.

The kidnappings have made travel outside major cities risky for the thousands of foreign aid workers and UN staff in Afghanistan and may weaken support for military involvement among the more than 30 nations with troops in the country.

The past 18 months has seen rising violence in Afghanistan, with daily clashes between Taliban insurgents and Afghan and foreign troops. Suicide and roadside bomb attacks have spread to areas previously considered safe.

Reutes PD GC2033