Peshawar: The Taliban on Saturday said no agreement had been reached on the release of 19 South Koreans in its captivity but indicated progress had been made in negotiations and that the issue could be resolved within the next few days.

Taliban military commander Abdullah, who abducted the Koreans on July 19 in Afghanistan's Ghazni province and has since kept them in his custody, termed reports about the imminent release of the hostages as wrong

He also denied reports that Saudi Arabia was mediating between Seoul and the Taliban. "As far as I know there is no Saudi involvement in this matter."

Abdullah, who killed two male Korean hostages and freed two females, said there was hope that the issue would be amicably resolved.

"Telephonic talks between the two sides were held today. We may talk again in the evening and tomorrow," he said.

"A meeting for final face-to-face talks may also be organised to finalise any agreement," he explained.

However, Abdullah insisted that the talks haven't entered the decisive stage. "There are certain issues that must be sorted out before an agreement becomes possible," he argued.

Sticking point

Asked whether the Taliban would give up their demand for the release of Taliban prisoners to facilitate an agreement, he said the issue presented the hurdle to a breakthrough.

"We want freedom for Taliban prisoners. That is the sticking point in reaching an agreement," he said.

On whether the Taliban would release the 19 Korean hostages if the government of South Korea agreed to pull out its troops within a matter of weeks and also withdrew all Korean firms, employees and aid workers as demanded by the Taliban, Abdullah said these were demands, along with the release of Taliban prisoners, had already been articulated.

News reports earlier had stated that the Taliban would release the Korean hostages as part of a Saudi-mediated deal under which South Korea would withdraw its troops from Afghanistan over a few weeks and also prevail on Korean firms and workers in Afghanistan to return home.

Asked to comment on reports that an agreement on the release of Korean hostages would be reached in Ghazni today, Abdullah said: "It may happen tomorrow, the day after or after two to three days."