Taliban to release all 19 SKorean hostages
Seoul,
Aug
28:
Taliban
insurgents
will
release
all
19
South
Korean
Christian
volunteers
they
have
held
hostage
in
Afghanistan
since
mid-July,
South
Korea's
presidential
Blue
House
said
today.
The Taliban agreed to the release after South Korea agreed to meet certain conditions such as halting its citizens from conducting Christian missionary activity in Afghanistan.
A presidential spokesman said it may take some time before the actual release.
The Taliban Islamic movement seized 23 Korean Christian volunteers on July 19 from a bus in Ghazni province. It killed two male hostages after a series of deadlines but freed two female captives as a gesture of goodwill during a first round of talks.
Reuters
>
Story first published: Tuesday, August 28, 2007, 19:19 [IST]