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OIC urges Taliban to release Korean hostages

* Taliban kill another hostage, negotiator says release talks have stalled

JEDDAH: The Organisation of the Islamic Conference called on Monday for the “immediate” release of the South Korean hostages captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, as a second captive was reported killed.

In a statement, the 57-member OIC said “kidnapping and hostage-taking of innocent civilians are serious crimes against humanity and therefore run counter to the tenets of Islam and its noble values”.

It appealed “to those who are holding the hostages to end this un-Islamic practice,” while expressing its “solidarity with the Afghan government on this unfortunate crisis”.

The Taliban militia said it shot dead a second hostage late Monday after its deadlines expired for the government to meet their demand. “We set several deadlines and the Afghan government did not pay attention to our them,” spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP. “Finally tonight at 8.30pm, we killed one of the Koreans named Sung Sin with AK-47 gunshots.” He said the hostage’s body had been dumped in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni.

Earlier, Mahmood Gailani, one of the leading members of a government appointed team negotiating the release of 22 kidnapped South Koreans, told AFP that, “The negotiations are stuck.”

Meanwhile, Al-Jazeera ran footage of a group of people it said were the South Korean hostages held by the Taliban. The footage was silent and lasted less than a minute. It showed Asian-looking women seated with their heads covered in headscarves and appearing weakened. Also on Monday, Taliban militants attacked a convoy of logistics materials intended for international troops in southern Afghanistan and killed 13 Afghan guards from a private security group, police said.

The convoy was on its way from Kabul to a military base in Kandahar when it was attacked late Sunday, a highway police chief said. “Thirteen guards of the convoy were killed and eight were wounded,” said Ghulam Jailani, highway police chief for Zabul province where the convoy was ambushed. He said the material was destined for the US military but this was not confirmed. He said five militants were also killed and two wounded. The interior ministry in Kabul confirmed the attack but said 10 men from the private Afghan security company that had been guarding the convoy were killed and three wounded.

Japan’s main opposition party said it is against extending Japan’s mission in support of US-led troops in Afghanistan. The Japanese navy has provided fuel for coalition warships in the Indian Ocean since November 2001 under a special anti-terrorism law, which has been extended four times, most recently on May 1. Meanwhile, a four-man Afghan health team went missing in southern Afghanistan and was feared kidnapped, their organisation said. The doctor, vaccinator, guard and driver went missing at midday when they were returning to Kandahar after a mission, a director of the Afghan Health Development Services said.

The director, Abdul Kabir, said he had been told the group was stopped by gunmen outside the city and were being held captive. He could not say who might be responsible. The Taliban did not confirm they were involved. agencies

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