SOME SOUTH KOREAN HOSTAGES RELEASED

AFGHANISTAN: Misna; The Taliban today released eight South Korean hostages, seven women and a man, held hostage in Afghanistan. The release of the eight Christian volunteers from South Korea, kidnapped in mid June, took place in two different locations and phases, first with the release of three women and then another three women and a man.

Eleven South Korean hostages are still in the hands of the Taliban. The hostages were handed over to some members of the International Committee of the Red Cross in the province of Ghazni. Over the past weeks the Taliban killed two of the 21 hostages, but then released two women in a first phase of negotiations.

No details have been disclosed regarding the accord that led to the releases, though in the past hours South Korean charity associations active in Afghanistan announced that they are abandoning their activities and leaving the country. The cessation of South Korean Christian missionary activities and the withdrawal of the contingent deployed by Seoul in Afghanistan were two of the demands made by the Taliban for the release of the hostages. The South Korean government had already announced the withdrawal of its 200-strong contingent (comprising soldiers, engineers and medical personnel) before the start of the hostage crisis. [BO]