A purported spokesman of Taliban Saturday threatened to kill 23 South Korean hostages unless an equal number of Taliban prisoners are freed by Sunday 7:00 a.m. (11:30 a.m. Korean time), also claiming they had murdered two Germans and five Afghans, AFP reported.
The Afghan government, however, said it had contradictory information concerning the German hostages, casting doubt on the purported spokesman's claims.

Yousuf Ahmadi, a spokesman for the Islamic militants, speaking by phone from an undisclosed location, said the two Germans and the five Afghan hostages were also killed.

"One of them was (Afghan deputy assembly president) Arif Noorzai's brother," said Ahmadi. "Their family can come and pick up the body without paying anything. It's all for free."

Officials in Seoul earlier said they were seeking direct talks with the kidnappers, while Berlin said it had no confirmation its citizens had been murdered.

Ahmadi earlier said the kidnapped Koreans would also be killed Saturday if South Korea didn't withdraw its 200 troops. Late Saturday he changed those demands, and also said the militants held 22 Koreans, up from the 18 he earlier claimed. He said several Koreans spoke the Afghan languages Dari and Pashtu and were mistaken for Afghans.


From news reports




2007.07.21

credit- the korea herald