Afghan official says Korean hostages still alive

Ghazni, Afghanistan: The remaining 22 South Koreans kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan are alive, the Afghan deputy interior minister said yesterday, hours after the passing of the latest deadline set by the group.

"They are alive and fine," Munir Mangal, who also heads an Afghan team trying to secure the freedom of the Christian hostages, told reporters in Ghazni.

He said an Afghan delegation was holding talks with the Taliban and had appealed to the group to not issue further deadlines as the government was keen to resolve the crisis "peacefully".

He did not say if the Taliban had accepted the delegation's appeal.

Earlier, a provincial official in Ghazni where the captives are believed to be held, said the Taliban had again extended the mid Friday Afghan time deadline to allow face-to-face talks with the delegation.

The Taliban could not be reached for comment about the fate of the captives and about the reported talks and extension of the ultimatum.

Accusing the government of "killing time and playing tricks", a Taliban spokesman had said earlier they would kill the captives if rebel prisoners were not released by the Afghan government by noon yesterday.

The Taliban killed the leader of the 23 volunteers they snatched from a bus on the main highway in Ghazni, which lies to the southwest of the capital Kabul last week. Several previous deadlines have passed without them carrying out their threats.

The Taliban spokesman said Afghan authorities had asked for more time after the insurgents presented the government with a list of eight prisoners it wanted released.