BEIJING, July 25 -- Relatives of the 23 South
Korean hostages held by Taliban fighters in Afghanistan waited for news on
Tuesday night as a deadline set by their captors expired. A Taliban spokesman
says no new deadline has been set.
The Taliban rebels have demanded eight Taliban
prisoners be released in exchange for eight South Korean hostages.
In South Korea, relatives of the hostages
gathered in the capital of Seoul to offer support and wait for news from
Afghanistan.
Relatives of the hostages say they believe
their government will do everything possible to solve the crisis. Relative of
hostage, said, "We have not heard anything from the foreign ministry, so we will
wait for the government's official announcement. We believe our government will
do a good job."
The hostages were seized from a bus in Ghazni
Province on a highway south of the capital, Kabul, on Thursday.
(Source: CCTV.com)
Taliban again extends South Korean hostages
deadline 
BEIJING, July 24 -- A Taliban spokesman says
the militia has extended its deadline for the lives of 23 South Korean hostages
until Tuesday evening. It's the second time the Taliban have extended a deadline
aimed at allowing the South Korean government to open direct talks with
kidnappers.
In a telephone interview a purported Taliban
spokesman confirmed the extension.
Qari Yousef Ahmadi, purported Taliban spokesman,
said, "I think the Afghan government is taking full control over the Korean
delegation and hasn't let them talk with the Taliban. The Kabul administration
is also not trying its hardest with negotiations so we are extending our
deadline for another 24 hours so the Koreans can directly get in touch and solve
the issue or put pressure on the Kabul administration to solve it."
Afghan officials have personally met the militants.
They are negotiating over the phone but little progress appears to have been
made so far.
Afghan troops have deployed from their base in Ghazni
province close to where the hostages are believed to be held by Taliban
militants. Full story
