From the Chosun Ilbo:
“Korean hostage negotiators have agreed to direct talks with Taliban kidnappers in Afghanistan, a purported spokesman for the Islamists militants told DPA Thursday. The news agency quoted Qari Yousuf Ahmadi as saying Korean Ambassador to Afghanistan Kang Sung-ju spoke directly by phone with his Taliban counterpart.”
I have to say I really hope this is not true, but given some of the statements from the country’s leadership over the past several days, I have a bad feeling.
Talk about completely legitimizing kidnapping as a political tool. So, the next time the Taliban wants something accomplished with a certain country (definitely Korea) they’ll just grab and threaten to kill a few unarmed civilians as a means of opening “negotiations.”
I haven’t commented before about the kidnappings because I didn’t (and don’t) think I have the background to add anything substantive to the discussion. But it gets to the point that you feel like you’re ignoring the elephant in the room by not talking about it.
I have been linking to stories on the link blog at the upper right. If you’re interested in what’s being said in South Korea, I recommend reading posts (and the comments) here, here and here for starters.
