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No.208 SIM音読用英文

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Hostage Crisis Ends As Taleban Frees Remaining S. Korean Hostages
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South Korean presidential spokesman Cheon Ho-seon said

the hostages will be returned to their loved ones

as soon as possible.

He says the group will be flown

from Kabul to Dubai and then on to Korea,

perhaps as early as Saturday or Sunday.

Taleban insurgents originally kidnapped 23 South Korean Christian
volunteers

as they drove through Ghazni on July 19.

The insurgents killed two hostages,

two others were released several weeks ago.

But South Korea has come under fire

for making concessions to the Taleban

to help free the hostages.

Seoul reaffirmed an earlier pledge

to end its military presence in Afghanistan

and also agreed

to stop Korean missionaries from working there.

There are also reports

South Korea may have paid a ransom,

but both sides insist no money was exchanged.

Several Afghan politicians criticized the deal,

with or without ransom,

saying it would only encourage more kidnappings in the future.

The Afghan government did not participate

in the hostage negotiations

which were coordinated by the Red Cross.

Abductions of local and foreign civilians have risen steadily

throughout the year.

Security experts say

the Taleban are increasingly using the tactic

to destabilize the U.S.-backed central government.

In Washington, U.S. officials dismissed suggestions

the South Korean deal would strengthen the Taleban.

Speaking to reporters Tuesday,

State Department Spokesman Tom Casey welcomed

the release of the hostages.

"It’s, again, representative of the kind of enemy

we are facing in Afghanistan,

that the Taleban engages in kidnapping,

and also, we should not forget,

in the murder of several of these hostages as well."

Taleban insurgents are still holding a number of other hostages,

including a German engineer and four Afghan co-workers

kidnapped one day before the South Koreans.

A second German, taken at the same time, was shot to death

after collapsing while in captivity.

Benjamin Sand, VOA News, Islamabad.(30 August 2007)
(Material is provided courtesy of voanews.com.)
by danueno | 2007-09-05 12:22 | SIM音読用英文


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