Taliban sets Wednesday hostage deadline

Published: July 31, 2007 at 7:20 AM

KABUL, Afghanistan, July 31 (UPI) -- Taliban extremists set a midday Wednesday deadline for Afghanistan to release prisoners before they execute more South Korean missionary hostages.

The threat came less than 24 hours after the bullet-riddled body of a 29-year-old male church volunteer was found beside a road in the Andar district in central Afghanistan.

Taliban rebels abducted 23 South Koreans -- 17 of them women -- from a bus on July 23. Last Wednesday, the group's leader was executed, al-Jazeera said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said senior leaders decided to kill the male captive Monday night because the government hadn't met demands to trade eight prisoners for the Christian group, The New York Times said.

The latest execution angered regional Gov. Mejaruddin Patan, who issued a statement saying: "Today the Taliban proved to the world that they are criminals. Even while our negotiations were continuing they killed another hostage."

© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
MLS: Los Angeles 2, Houston 0 (OT)
Your Daily Horoscope
The almanac
NBA: Denver 105, LA Lakers 79
NBA: Sacramento 109, Houston 100
COL BKB: Georgetown 74, Tulane 58
NBA: Atlanta 97, Boston 86
fark
Merlot the cat, who went missing 17 months ago when he was less than a year old, has returned home...
Middle school teacher resigns job she held for 22 years, after she's caught stealing small amounts...
But honestly, who amongst us hasn't mistaken a uniformed police officer for a Sonic drive-through...
Creepy weatherman leaves around 100 voicemails to girl he just met. Wonders why she won't call him...
Man charged with battery, grand theft, exhibition of a deadly weapon and a possible hate crime for...
Comic books are doing surprisingly well even when big-boy books are struggling