Taliban Ups Demands for 23 Korean Hostages

Kidnappers want full prisoner release
By Jonas Oransky,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 23, 2007 8:33 AM CDT
Taliban Ups Demands for 23 Korean Hostages
An Afghan man rides a bicycle passes the South Korean embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, July 20, 2007. Taliban militants kidnapped at least 18 South Koreans, including 15 women, at gunpoint from a bus, and a purported spokesman for the group said Friday they would be killed unless Seoul pulled...   (Associated Press)

Taliban militants holding 23 Korean aid workers hostage increased their demands today, insisting that  the government release all insurgent prisoners in the province, according to a kidnap spokesman. The militants threatened to kill the hostages  if a response isn't forthcoming by 10:30 a.m. EDT, the AP reports.

Local leaders were stood up today when they arrived to meet with the kidnappers. In March, Afghan President Hamid Karzai released  five Taliban prisoners in exchange for a kidnapped Italian reporter, invoking strident international criticism. Five Korean officials met with Karzai in Kabul yesterday. (More kidnapping stories.)

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