Hostages safe for now: Taliban
Ap, Ghazni
The Taliban said Friday it would not kill any of the 21 remaining South Korean hostages it is holding until planned face-to-face meetings have been held with a delegation from the East Asian country. The captors have repeatedly threatened to kill more of the captives they seized on July 19 if their demands are not met, though negotiations appear to have bogged down in recent days. Taliban and South Korean officials have agreed they want to meet for talks to break the deadlock, but have not been able to agree on a location that both sides consider safe. Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said negotiations on a location were continuing by phone. "Until we sit for face-to-face negotiations with the Koreans, we have no plans to kill any Korean hostages," Ahmadi said.
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