One by One Redux

In Afghanistan, it's about an hour past the August 1, 4:30 p.m. deadline for meeting Taliban demands.

Rather than stand out as a particularly stunning example of audacity, the Koreans held by the Taliban add to the band's roster of kidnappings and murders of civilian foreign nationals.  Since trading back two or three captive Taliban field commanders for the freedom of Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo in March 2007 (while the same captors beheaded his driver and later slit the throat of fellow journalist Ajmal Naqshbandi), Afghanistan's government has been loath to repeat the process.

Germany at the moment has also one kidnapped citizen dead and another remaining in captivity for which the Taliban have demanded the retreat of its 3,000 coalition troops.  According to Reuters, "German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said Berlin would not give in to the kidnappers' demands" [1].

The Korean government has appealed to the United States to intervene on the side of negotiations, but that has been met by the long-lived statement to the effect that the American government "does not make concessions to terrorists" [1].

Reuters reports ground forces moving in Ghazni's Qarabagh district where the Koreans had been kidnapped [2].

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1. "Taliban deadline expires, no word on Korean hostages."  Reuters, August 1, 2007, 5:52 a.m. ET

2. Azimy, Yousuf.  "Hostage rescue bid begins in Afghanistan: official."  Reuters, August 1, 2007, 8:23 a.m. ET

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Correspondence and Permissions: James S. Oppenheim

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