Sunday, August 26, 2007

Afghanistan-Talks to resume on the release of S. Korean hostages

The Taliban seized these Christian hostages on July 19th 2007. The terrorists wish to secure the release of insurgent prisoners held in Afghan jails. They have already murdered two hostages and released two others. The hostages are the meat in the sandwich between the Afghan government and the terrorists. These hostages are under the most extreme psychological pressure. Not one Arab government has taken this crisis seriously. Presumably as far as Arab politicians in the Middle East are concerned it is reasonable to murder Christian hostages or iltreat them. The Saudis are mainly Sunnis as are the Taliban. They could set up channels of communication with the Taliban.

Zabeehullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, told The Korea Times that the militants were ready for the next phase of talks to amicably resolve the issue. However, he said, their demands will remain the same and the Korean side should assure them that they will not stick to their stance of being unable to put pressure on the Afghan government.Mujahid denied that there had been any mediation by the Saudi Arabian government, however, he said they would not reject any such move for a peaceful resolution of the problem. ........

Without Saudi intervention the prospects for a civilised resolution of the crisis look grim. The Taliban are obviously encouraged by the the indifference of Arab politicians. Spineless Arab politicians -by their inactivity-have given carte blanche to the terrorists. Shame on them.

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