North Korea Missile Test on March 28th Raises Regional Tension.

North Korea has test-fired a number of short range missiles according to South Korea.Analysts believe the military exercise is intended to send out two messages:Firstly, that Pyongyang is unhappy with the United States, after Washington applied pressure on North Korea to detail its uranium enrichment programme and the extent of its links to Syria.Secondly, that its thought the test was a dig at the new conservative government in Seoul.

Afghan Taliban Releases 12 South Korean Hostages

Chosun Ilbo- The Taliban has begun releasing 19 South Korean Christian volunteers, after holding them in Afghanistan for nearly six weeks. The militants have freed 12 hostages so far a day after South Korea made a series of concessions to end the hostage crisis...
Thankfully this crisis appears to be resolved. Unfortunately 2 hostages were murdered. However the Taliban failed to secure the release of insurgent prisoners held in Afghan jails.
Nevertheless some questions arise.

• Did South Korea pay a ransom?
• Why was the crisis ignored by much of the media?
• Arab countries failed to intervene. Why?
• When will Arab Governments ensure freedom of religion for Christians within their boundaries?
• When will Western politicians exert pressure on Arab countries to ensure freedom of religion for Christian minorities.

Taliban to release 19 Korean hostages??

According to Reuters-Taliban insurgents said on Tuesday they would release 19 South Korean Christian volunteers they have held for nearly six weeks provided Seoul pulls out its troops and stops Korean missionary work in Afghanistan by year-end.
South Korea's presidential office issued a statement setting out the terms of the agreement, and Taliban representative Qari Mohammad Bashir confirmed a deal had been struck........... ....

There is no mention of the release of Taliban prisoners by the Afghan Government. Two Christian hostages have been murdered by the terrorists. And all for what? I will believe this statement when those hostages are back safely in South Korea. The Taliban have broken their promises on several occasions already.

There is a high level of intolerance and hatred towards Christianity in Moslem countries such as Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia Iran and now increasingly so in Iraq. Yet Moslems resident in the US and Western Europe have freedom to practise their religion and are quite vocal in their demands. Some even speak in terms of winning back Spain for Islam.