SKorean hostages set to fly home after Afghan ordeal

KABUL, Aug 31 (Reuters) Newly freed South Korean hostages were expected to fly out of the Afghan capital today after a six-week kidnap drama, a source close to the arrangements said, after a deal critics fear could spur more abductions.

Taliban insurgents freed the remaining seven South Korean Christian volunteers late yesterday. They are part of a group of 23 missionaries kidnapped in southeast Afghanistan in mid-July.

The Taliban killed two male hostages, while two women released earlier as a goodwill gesture have already flown home.

It was not immediately clear whether any of the 19 hostages freed this week have already been flown to Dubai en route to South Korea.

Aid officials said those still in the country were either at a hotel in the capital or at Bagram Airbase, the US military's hub in Afghanistan.

''It looks like they will be put on a UN flight today. It will probably be to Dubai,'' an official close to the arrangements said, asking not to be named. He said South Korea had asked the UN for seats aboard one of their aircraft.

A South Korean embassy official declined to comment, denying reports the freed hostages would hold a news conference before leaving. Journalists have not been allowed to speak to them.

The last batch of hostages released to the Red Cross outside Ghazni town late on Thursday looked pale, the women covering their faces with scarves. However, Afghan officials said they were in good health.

The kidnapping is the largest in the resurgent Taliban campaign against foreign forces since US-led troops ousted the Islamists from power in 2001.

The Taliban agreed to release the remaining hostages after Seoul agreed to pull all its nationals out of the central Asian country.

Some Afghan officials say South Korea also agreed to pay a ransom during negotiations with the Taliban, which one foreign diplomat said started out as a demand for 20 million dollar. Critics say this sets a dangerous precedent and could spur more abductions.

In New York overnight, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, was ''happy that those released are now on their way to being safely reunited with their loved ones'', UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

But Ban was ''deeply concerned for the safety and welfare of the other nationals who are being held against their will in Afghanistan'', including a German and four Afghans.

Taliban fighters seized two German aid workers and five Afghan colleagues in a separate incident in mid-July in Wardak province, southwest of the capital Kabul. They killed one German. One Afghan escaped.

South Korea had already decided before the crisis to pull its 200 engineers and medical staff out of Afghanistan by the end of this year. Since the hostages were taken, it has banned its nationals from travelling there.

The freed hostages are expected to face a cool reception at home.

Some South Koreans say the group are partly to blame after they ignored their government's own advice not to travel to areas where the Taliban are active.

Thousands held candlelight vigils in South Korea to pray for the hostages' safe return, but many also harshly criticised the suburban Seoul church that sent the group to Afghanistan.

''They did a great disservice to the government and to the people, and also disgraced the honour of the country,'' said Chung Kyung-joon, a 23-year-old resident of Seoul. ''They must pay a price for that.'' The ordeal has left some of the relatives divided, with one father considering a lawsuit against the church and the government.

It has also caused a rift among evangelical churches, with some rethinking their missionary approach. Others remain defiant.

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