Taliban Frees All South Korean Hostages

Taliban militants have set free the last group of South Koreans abducted by the extremist organization in central Afghanistan, witnesses said.

The two women and one man were covered in dust as they walked out of the desert, accompanied by three armed men, and were turned over to waiting officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said.

Their freedom ended a six-week drama that began when a 23-member group of Christian church volunteers was abducted on a busy road in the central Ghazni province on July 19. Two captives were executed by the kidnappers.

The last seven captives were released Thursday in two separate groups. Two men and two women were handed over to the officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross on a road in Janda area in central Afghanistan earlier in the day.

The senior Taliban commander in Afghanistan's Ghazni province told CBS news earlier Thursday that all the South Koreans would be freed before the day's end.

One of the hostages, a man who identified himself as Mr. Che, told CBS News by telephone Thursday morning that "we all are well, and pass on my message to my family that I will be free soon, and will meet them soon."

Asked if he and the other captives had been treated well by the fundamentalist Islamic group, Che said, "when we get Seoul, we will talk on that topic."

South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-sun said Thursday that once free, the group would head to Kabul before returning home via Dubai.

On Wednesday, the Taliban released 12 of 19 South Koreans held hostage, as part of a deal with Seoul that one Afghan minister warned would embolden the insurgents.

The hostages were released into the care of officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross at three separate locations in central Afghanistan.

In late July, the militants killed two male hostages, and they released two women earlier this month as gesture of goodwill.

Under the terms of Tuesday's deal, South Korea reaffirmed a pledge it made before the hostage crisis began to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by the end of this year. Seoul also said it would prevent South Korean Christian missionaries from working in the staunchly Muslim country, something it had already promised to do.

The Taliban apparently backed down on earlier demands for a prisoner exchange. But the militant group, which killed two South Korean hostages last month, could emerge with enhanced political legitimacy for negotiating successfully with a foreign government.

Nasir told CBS News Thursday that the Taliban was "satisfied with the deal," but added that all Westerns must leave Afghanistan, or risk being kidnapped and killed.

Another Taliban commander told CBS earlier this week that kidnapping was still considered, "a good strategy".

South Korea and the Taliban have said no money changed hands as part of the deal.

An Indonesian government official who took part in the negotiations Tuesday between three South Korean officials and two Taliban commanders where the deal was struck said money was not brought up.

"From what I saw and from what I heard in the talks, it was not an issue," Heru Wicaksono told The Associated Press.

Wicaksono, a high-ranking official at the Indonesian Embassy in Kabul, said the Taliban were motivated by "humanitarian feelings" to free the captives.

The Afghan government was not party to the negotiations, which took place in Ghazni and were facilitated by the ICRC.

Wicaksono was an observer at the talks, chosen by both sides because Indonesia is a large Muslim country.

South Korea's government, which has been under intense domestic pressure to bring the hostages home safely, said it had tried to adhere to international principles while putting priority on saving the captives.

But Afghan Commerce Minister Amin Farhang criticized the deal.

"One has to say that this release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger," he told Germany's Bayerischer Rundfunk radio. "We fear that this decision could become a precedent. The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan."

A German engineer and four Afghan colleagues kidnapped a day before the South Koreans are still being held.

Afghanistan has seen a rash of kidnappings of foreigners over the last year.

The Italian and Afghan governments were heavily criticized in March for agreeing to free five Taliban prisoners to win the release of an Italian journalist. The head of the Italian aid agency Emergency also has said Rome also paid a $2 million ransom last year for a kidnapped Italian photographer - a claim Italian officials did not deny.