Seoul (AsiaNews) – The South Korean government has confirmed that it aims to open direct negotiations with the Afghan Taliban who kidnapped a group of 23 Christians from the Presbyterian Saemmul church July 19th. Two of these hostages have been killed, while the 16 women members of the groups are apparently “in a terrible condition”.
In the meantime an important Sunni leader has condemned the kidnap and has called for the immediate release of the hostages. Mohammed Sayed Tantawi, head of the prestigious Islamic university Al Azhar, yesterday assured the Egyptian ambassador to Kabul of his support for a “peaceful resolution” to the situation and defined the Afghan Islamic extremists’ behaviour as “senseless”. The Organisation of Islamic Conferences had already condemned the kidnap two days ago.
South Korean government spokesman Cheon Ho-seon told reporters today that the Seoul “is expanding contact with the Taliban and both direct and indirect contacts are being made.” According to sources, the governor of Ghazni Province, where the Korean hostages are held, confirmed the agreement on face-to-face negotiations and said the Taliban and Korean ambassador are choosing an appropriate place to meet.
The US administration has so far withheld commenting on the development. It has frequently highlighted the necessity to avoid giving in to extremists, and has repeated its preference of direct intervention, if not military, to resolve the situation.