Taliban: "We Might Stop Killing Hostages"

Militants Blame Afghan Government For Hostages' Deaths; Seek Direct Talks With South Korea

(CBS/AP)  A high-ranking Taliban commander in Afghanistan with direct involvement in the capture and captivity of a group of South Koreans has told CBS News, "we might stop killing hostages, because our strategy may be changing."

The Afghan government is "under extreme pressure, and they are embarrassed, so we want to keep them in this situation and sustain this crisis for a while," the militant said in a phone interview.

He did not say exactly how the group planned to draw-out the situation, but he did say the killing "might stop," if only temporarily. The commander spoke to CBS News on condition that he not be named.

Mullah Sabir Nasir, the senior Taliban commander in Ghazni province, where the South Koreans were abducted more than two weeks ago, told CBS News that two hostages were killed due to the Afghan government "cheating us" in negotiations for their release.

Nasir, who holds one of about 30 seats on the Taliban's "supreme council" of leaders, said government negotiators had repeatedly gone back on promises to release Taliban prisoners in exchange for the hostages' — 21 of whom are still said to be alive.

He expressed frustration at apparently not being able to negotiate directly with South Korean officials, suggesting the government of Afghan president Hamid Karzai was blocking any such discussion.

"The Afghan government just wants to make us angry, and push us to kill all the hostages at once to bring an end to the crisis," Nasir told CBS News.

The senior Taliban commander who spoke anonymously to CBS News said the militants were considering the release of the female hostages.

He stressed that if the 18 women were freed, "there will be no money". In recent interviews with CBS News, Taliban leaders have repeatedly denied reports that any ransom was being sought.

The second slain hostage's body, a man, dressed in Western clothing and with glasses, was found on the side of the road at daybreak Tuesday in the village of Arizo Kalley in Andar District, some 5 miles west of Ghazni city, said Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator in the area.

The South Korean Foreign Ministry identified the victim as 29-year Shim Sung-min, a former information technology worker who volunteered with a South Korean church group on an aid mission to Afghanistan.

"The Kabul and Korean governments are lying and cheating. They did not meet their promise of releasing Taliban prisoners," a purported Taliban spokesman said earlier by phone from an undisclosed location.

The Afghan government said releasing militant prisoners was not an option.

"We are not going to discuss the details, releasing or not releasing of criminals in exchange for the hostages," said Humayun Hamidzada, spokesman for President Hamid Karzai. "We are doing everything we can to secure their release."

In March, Karzai approved a deal that saw five captive Taliban fighters freed for the release of Italian reporter Daniele Mastrogiacomo. Karzai, who was criticized by Washington and European capitals over the exchange, called the trade a one-time deal.

"As far as the comparison with the Italian hostage situation is concerned, I don't think that this should become an industry in Afghanistan," Hamidzada told a news conference Tuesday. "I don't think anyone supports it ... as a principle, we shouldn't encourage kidnapping by accepting their demands."

In South Korea, the dead man's father, Shim Jin-pyo, said his wife collapsed when the family heard their son was the Taliban's latest victim.

Appearing calm and soft-spoken, Shim Jin-Pyo said he wondered how the Taliban "could perpetrate this horrible thing."

The relatives of the hostages appealed for support from the United States and the international community to resolve the hostage standoff.

"In particular, the families want the United States to disregard political interests and give more active support to save the 21 innocent lives," said Kim Jung-ja, mother of Lee Sun-young, one of the remaining captives.

Earlier, the Al-Jazeera television network showed shaky footage of what it said were several South Korean hostages. It did not say how it obtained the video. The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified.

Some seven female hostages, heads veiled in accordance with the Islamic law enforced by the Taliban, were seen crouching in the dark, eyes closed or staring at the ground, expressionless.

The hostages did not speak as they were filmed by the hand-held camera.

The Taliban kidnapped 23 South Koreans riding on a bus through Ghazni province on the Kabul-Kandahar highway on July 19, the largest group of foreign hostages taken in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion.

The Taliban has set nearly a dozen deadlines for the South Korean lives. Last Wednesday the insurgents killed their first hostage, a male leader of the group.

The body of pastor Bae Hyung-kyu arrived back in South Korea on Monday.

On Sunday, Karzai and other Afghan officials tried to shame the Taliban into releasing the female captives by appealing to a tradition of cultural hospitality and chivalry. They called the kidnapping of women "un-Islamic."

[radiob-2009]

Release the hostages now! Killing the hostages or detaining them any longer only proves how barbaric the Taliban are.

[patriotic9]

radiob
Do you realy think, Talibans care about whether we like them or we think they are barbaric?

Did we care whether Japanese feel we were barbaric or not, when we nuked two cities in Japan to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women, children and elderly people?

[dangeroushen]

radiob

You are right, they are barbaric. It dosn't matter to the Taliban whether their demands are met or not. They will continue to do this until NATO pulls out.

[oakishpines]

'they' may kill the jews if they like, or starve the pennyless, or walk on the moon or mars, or they may feed the world or force folk to share a hundred billion billion new dragons each day:

but what will they do??

media doesn't give market share to hitlers or to poor folk ... while lots of ladies run around smacking a half dozen or dozen kids (one or two their own) as they shop so naturally for bargains, millionaires preach of treachery and disparity and expensive guns and drugs to solve everything

[ajmarine1]

anyone here?

[tnt1954]

as christians they are honor bound to
die for their faith. martyrs all. there
is a catholic priest on ewtn who always
talks late at night of thousands of christians
in the far east who are martyred every day,
and have been for years and years and years.
take up your cross and follow me. sell all
your possessions before you do so. japanese
martyrs of years ago too. martyrs in atheist
countries, martyrs in the union of soviet
america. crucifixions of nice christians
like shirley roper phelps and her husband
who dare to speak out against the absolute
insanity of this world. nuns killed in africa.
for helping people stay alive. christ himself
butchered on the cross. thief on the right
said take me to paradise, st. dismas.
the thief on the left, get me off this
cross, i can't stand the pain. and the final
blow the murder of julie cross on june 4, 1980
because ito farms rejected the cross pen
i sold them in 1976 in ventura county when
i was an outside salesman in office supplies.
and judge ito of the japanese secret service
and his nightmares of the past.
billy graham issues edict to forgive debts
and sins, and eats his kurds and ways.
curds and whey. the milky whey? jesus
himself is crucified more and more by the
depravity of humanity.

[dangeroushen]

The Taliban are losing the war on the ground. This is their way of hitting back, they are testing our resolve. Do we have the stomach for it?

[mike71067]

Let's have a big round-of-applause for the "religion of peace".

[drummer94]

Hi ya AJ, radio. Let's hope our survaillaince(?) apparatus is watching us. Hey, morons, you KILLED,KILLED,KILLED another person. KILLED. Dead. You gained ---nothing. You took a persons life for, nothing. Nothing. Ya did not further your "cause" at all. Shiit is not gonna change. If you REALLY have a higher power, well, enough said.

[j-whitman]

mike71067,,,, Which religion of peace ?? Ours or thiers ????

[winnerindia]

Let's have a big round-of-applause for the "religion of peace".
Posted by mike71067 at 02:37 PM : Jul 30, 2007

Yes Islam is a religion of peace, but ignorent people like you will never understand that the *** taliban and Alqaeeda are not Muslims. They *** holes are barbarians without any religion, only using the name of Islam. Many of my friends are Muslims and they are much better than people who are from other religions, even better than Hindus. Now I guess that is enough for you.

[j-whitman]

Christofacists Bush Lovers are like the fallen angeles looking for another Virgin Mary to rape

[j-whitman]

patriotic9,,,, No the Taliban doesn't care & neither does Sudi Arabia Bush is giving a $20 Billion arms deal too ---- They still fund, arm & support the Taliban & Al Queda

[bobnjersey]

[I think Korea should get involved. They won't hold back. They'll go in there withourt their hands tied and destroy those scum bags. Enough already. ]
[Posted by guyfrompa45 at 01:00 PM : Jul 30, 2007]

ahhh ... the smell of burning scum bags in the mornin ... aint nothin' sweeter than that.

[elgraz]

Where is the Korean Government ? It is the mouse that roared. I am sure that because the hostages are Christian that the Korean officials turn their heads. Those two faced..............mudderfu....kers. As usual the Korean government lost their ballllllllls.

[drummer94]

Hey j-whit. I was wondering. You've used the term "Christofascist" before. Means what? And always with a capital "C". What gives?

[elgraz]

This ********************** Bush just won't let up. He is as stupid and stubborn as Johnson. They must raise idiots in Texas.

[j-whitman]

guyfrompa45,,,, This is the source of your anti Liberal poison GOP rhetoric ----
"The main plank in the Nationalist Socialist program is to abolish the liberalistic concept of the individual and the Marxist concept of humanity and to substitute for them the folk community, rooted in the soil and bound together by the bond of its common blood."
-- Adolph Hitler

[tnt1954]

ban ki moon's response as general secretary
of the united nations-it aint' so cool.
bummer man. taliban demand to be made
head of united nations, get women back
in the bedroom where they belong. and allowed
out now and then to clean the house, with
fullerbrush.com products. the fuller brush
man will be by for company once a year
for five minutes. aren't you lucky.
women have taken all our jobs---mankind!!

[elgraz]

j-whitman;.............where are you amigo ?????

[j-whitman]

elgraz,, Sacramento

[radiob-2009]

Animals nothing but animals. The Afghan government knows the location of these animals and can track others by the phones. You do not negotiate with animals.

[elgraz]

What are you doing in Sacramento ? Also, we should not name these Taliban bastardsss as animals. They are the *** of Lucifer and belong up his/her arse.

[j-whitman]

drummer94,,, I think Christofascists describes Bush Lovers quite well -
- Watch the movie "Schindler's List",, they are burning down the pilliars of our democracy, Seperations of Power & our Constitution as Hitler burned the Reichstag.
- I tend to use capitals to stress the emphisize a word

[j-whitman]

elgraz,,,, Get off the evil stuff,, Evil is what evil does ---- Right now over 8 million Iraqi's are facing starvation, they don't have water or electrictiy they had before we invaded..... For all these American deaths just what has been the gain ?????

They will not Follow Us Home,, It's not about thier Freedoms or ours,, It's not about Liberty or Democracy ---- We are not founded on Christian principles

[j-whitman]

guyfrompa45,,, Your anti liberal rehtoric came straight from Adolf Hitler in the 1920's.

[radiob-2009]

Where are the Korean special forces? Send them in and let them take care of the Taliban. There is no negotiating with these barbarians.

[elgraz]

Whitman, Whitman, Whitman.........you will never change. I pity you and yours.

[j-whitman]

guyfrompa45,,,, I've done my 20 years on active duty --- You & these Young College Republicans should serve your country in time of war & urgent need & you all refuse

[radiob-2009]

J I have to correct you on the Iraqis having electricty before our invasion. Electricity in Iraq was spotty at best, the entire infrastructure of Iraq had been negected by Saddam.

[j-whitman]

elgraz,,,, America was not founded on Christian principles, this Middle East conflict prooves it..

The Peace treaty of Tripoli - Article 11

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

[j-whitman]

radio,,,, They now have less electricity now than before we invaded, less clean water & less food.

guyfrompa45,,, Then make your young republicans enlist in our all volunteer military --- They need real support.

[navyretired2]

"Yes Islam is a religion of peace, but ignorent people like you will never understand that the *** taliban and Alqaeeda are not Muslims. They *** holes are barbarians without any religion, only using the name of Islam. Many of my friends are Muslims and they are much better than people who are from other religions, even better than Hindus. Now I guess that is enough for you.

Posted by winnerindia at 02:59 PM : Jul 30, 2007"

So, winner, what do you say about the passages in the Quran that call on all muslims to kill/convert/enslave non-muslims around the world, until such time as the entire world is muslim? Seriously...how does that work?

Your "friends" must not be true muslims, since they don't agree with Al Kookda and friends.

[radiob-2009]

J if you are unable to see this situation for what it is the brutal and barbaric kidnapping of 23 S Korean medical aid workers who came to Afghanistan to help the Afghanis out of which two have been murdered, one of which was shot 10 times in the head, chest and stomach because he was ill without faulting some else beside the Taliban then your hatred for Bush has consumed you.These are murderous thugs nothing more nothing less who could care less about anyone or anything if it does not benefit them. You cannot negotiate with these animals.

[j-whitman]

elgraz,,, The entire Peace Treaty of Tripoli was read in the 5th Congress of the United States Senate & passed unanimously on June 7, 1797 signed by President John Adams --
-- "We are not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

[xzavierbrown]

the wicked and the blasphemous will be punished!

whoever unjustly takes a life under the guise of GOD will be judged accordingly

[j-whitman]

radiob,,,, Yes they are murderous thugs,, No doubt about it ---- These Christofascists Bush Lovers are making it worst.

Don't forget my friend these people are the same ones who got everything wrong for 6 years on terrorism & Iraq

[oakishpines]

if governments and companies tax and charge folk in order to feed soldiers and employees that tax and charge folk that vote to be taxed and pay to be treated to non-charity, then does it not stand to reason that the governments and companies will ultimately starve alongside their taxed and charged people when, ultimately: the people are taxed and charged to absolute poverty? as is the case of the u.s. farms, nearly all fore-closed on? as will be the case of the u.s. hospitals and schools: nearly entirely subsidized? their is an irony to media monopoly: people are walking posters that are banned from most speech while instructed by media to keep away from the rotting, selfish, useless poor.

[radiob-2009]

J the Bush adminstration has been virtually silent on this. Every part of this has been between the Koreans, Afghan Govt. and the Taliban. The US has not been involved.

[drummer94]

RE: j-whit (Christowhatever) Makes no sense dude. Who is it that always says islomafacisticnazi krap? No sense there, either. OHHH, just remembered. Was the spam-bot lars008.

[j-whitman]

guyfrompa45,,,, This entire No-Negotiating concept has lead to over 3,650 Brave Americans KIA for no gain, 10's of thousands of civilians dead & over 8 million Iraqi's facing starvation & death.

[elgraz]

Why can't we human beings ever get along ? I am sure that the Creator did it purposely to us.

[j-whitman]

Radio,,,, You've forgotten, we armed Saddam, & we also armed the Taliban to fight the Soviets... Nothing has changed with these neo-cons except they are now Theo-cons, ie. Christofascists

[elgraz]

What's a ChristoFascist..........an automobile or a disease amigo whitman ?

[elgraz]

I just opened up a can of SPAM original today. I haven't eaten the food since the mid 1980's. What a treat!!!!!!!!!! My Rottweiler and Poodle almost took my hand off to eat some. They never tasted SPAM before. Thank you Jesus!!!!!!!!! When things get bad in your life, always remember that you will have SPAM as a friend.

[j-whitman]

elgraz,,,,, Christofascists are those Christian republican militants who demand America sing "Hail To The Fuher,, & tell thier children we are founded on Christianity and it's principles".

[j-whitman]

elgraz,,,,, Christiofascists are those who think Abuse of Power & destruction of the pillars of our democracy is the future of America..
.. They are those who think the abuse of our nations National Security, military & intellegence services is good for our country.

[elgraz]

Whitman, Whitman, Whitman, you are indeed screwed up. I wish I could help you find yourself. As a former seminarian, I always thought that we indeed in the USA were always founded on Christianity. Were we founded on Judaism or Islam ? You must be smoking something amigo. You should really see the old Archie Bunker, All in the Family TV shows. It will fit you just fine. I in fact love Archie because he was such a bigot, uneducated and stupid. Such people make me a genius among men and of course women.

[j-whitman]

elgraz,,,,, Pay attention,, It was decided by our 5th Congress in the Peace Treaty with Tripoli in 1797 & signed by President John Adams.

Art. 11. As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Mussulmen; and, as the said States never entered into any war, or act of hostility against any Mahometan nation, it is declared by the parties, that no pretext arising from religious opinions, shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries.

[radiob-2009]

J There are people and groups one can negotiate with and there are those that one cannot. These people cannot be negotiated with they have taken lives.Give up 23 Taliban that will go kill and take hostage more people for the release of 21 now longer 23 Korean hostages.The Taliban who gave shelter to Bin Laden, these are the ones you wish to negotiate with? Would you have tried to negotiate with OBL after he attacked us on 9-11?