Korean Christian Hostage Mastermind Killed!

Good news, the Taliban commander who was responsible for the kidnapping of South Korean Christian missionaries--and the subsequent murder of two of them--has been killed.

Revenge. She is a bitch.

CTV:

Mullah Abdullah Jan, the Taliban commander of Qara Bagh district in Ghazni province, was among the 12 killed in the strike on a mud-brick housing compound overnight, said Ghazni provincial police chief Gen. Ali Shah Ahmadzai.

Jan watched as his fighters stopped and kidnapped a tour bus full of South Koreans in July, Ahmadzai said. Officials previously said they had killed another commander behind the kidnappings, a Mullah Mateen, but Ahmadzai said Jan was higher-ranking.

Kill all the Taliban, let Allah sort them out.

Thanks to GM.

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Korean Hostages Told to Convert or Die by Taliban

No Stockholm syndrome here as the freed Korean Christian hostages describe the brutality of their Islamist captors. Imagine that, the Taliban tried to force the Korean hostages to convert. BBC:

"We were beaten with a tree branch or kicked around. Some kidnappers threatened us with death at gunpoint to force us to follow them in chanting their Islamic prayer for conversion," said Jae Chang-hee.

"I was beaten many times. They pointed a rifle and bayonet at me and tried to force me to convert." ...

The most difficult moment, when I had a big fear of death, was when the Taleban shot [a] video.

"All 23 of us leaned against a wall and armed Taleban aimed their guns at us, and a pit was before me.

"They said they will save us if we believe in Islam. I almost fainted at the time and I still cannot look at cameras," she said...

"One day, a Taleban called Bae and checked his first and last names and took him out of the room.

"Bae didn't even look at us when he was leaving the room. He only said 'Overcome with faith'," Ms Han said, in tears.

Bae was murdered on that day.

Hat tip: Tom

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Millions Paid for South Korean Hostages

So, in addition to surrendering to the Taliban by pulling out their troops, then becoming dhimmis by submitting to Islamic law and forbidding missionaries, South Korea also was extorted and paid ransom? Unfreakingbelievable!

UPDATE & Bump: SOUTH KOREA: KIMCHI EATING SURRENDER MONKEYS!!!

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UPDATE: FREE!! Remaining Korean Hostages to be Freed Today [BONUS: email or call Taliban spokesman]

Update by Howie. The remaining seven hostages have been released. Four in one group, three in another.

-------------------

Keep your fingers crossed that the Taliban scum actually let them go unharmed.

Then take out your lucky rabbit's foot, rub three times, and say a prayer to the patron saint of vengeance that a U.S. special forces team eliminates their Taliban captors within the hour.

Yonhap:

Taliban insurgents are set to free the remaining seven South Korean hostages in Afghanistan within the next few hours, a spokesman for the militant group said Thursday.

The remaining hostages will be released from 4 p.m. (1130 GMT) in "groups of three and four," told Yonhap News Agency in a telephone conversation through an interpreter.

May I ask the simple question: WHAT THE HELL IS QARI YOUSUF AHMADI DOING STILL BREATHING AIR? WE KNOW WHERE HE IS. WE KNOW WHO HE IS. WE KNOW WHAT HE IS. PLEASE, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, SEND HIM TO MEET HIS 72 VIRGINS!

email Qari Yousuf Ahmadi: qarimohammadyousaf@yahoo.com
call Qari Yousuf Ahmadi: (011 from US, then) 8821621515539

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8 Hostages Go Free, Korea Loses It's Dignity

Thank God that the Taliban have released 8 of the remaining 19 hostages. However grateful we are, though, we should never forget that the price paid for these hostages' lives are the countless numbers of other hostages that will be taken. The lesson learned by the Taliban terrorists is simple: taking hostages works. Thus, more hostages will be taken.

We pray that God's vengeance on the Taliban will be swift and in the form of bullets from the end of a Marine rifle.

Breitbart:

Afghanistan's Taliban militants on Wednesday released five more South Korean hostages, raising to eight the number set free following an agreement with South Korean officials, according to a mediator.

The four women and one man were handed over by elders of Ghazni to officials of the International Committee of the Red Cross outside Ghazni, capital of the province of the same name, Haji Zahir, who has been mediating between the Taliban and South Korean negotiators, told Kyodo News.

Again, let us not forget that the Taliban murdered two of the hostages for the 'crime' of spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Meanwhile, a bit of clarity from an Afghan minister. Via AllahP this AP report:

"One has to say that this release under these conditions will make our difficulties in Afghanistan even bigger," the country's commerce minister, Amin Farhang, told Germany's Bayerischer Rundfunk radio. "We fear that this decision could become a precedent. The Taliban will continue trying to take hostages to attain their aims in Afghanistan."

Well, duh.

In addition, it also legitimizes the Taliban. When diplomats meet with a terrorist organization, it adds legitimacy to their cause and it helps them recruit more terrorists:

"Maybe they (the Taliban) did not achieve all that they demanded, but they achieved a lot in terms of political credibility," said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center. "The fact that the Koreans negotiated with them directly and more or less in their territory ... is in itself an achievement."

People generally only fight if they believe they can win. By negotiating with the Taliban sympathizers are led to the inevitable conclusion that maybe the Taliban are a bigger threat than they thought and perhaps they have a chance of beating NATO forces.

Good job Korea, all the murdered hostages, beheading victims, and dead NATO troops that will result from your capitulation thank you.

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Koreans Bow to Taliban Demands, Hostages to Go Free

The scumbags in the Taliban have agreed to free the remaining hostages. Do you think this makes them look good? Remember, they already murdered two hostages. Oh, and the fact that they took hostages in the first place should tell you something--they are sumhuman filth!

But thank God for all miracles small and great, even if the price tag is high. It's really the hostage catch 22---we celebrate the fact that the 19 hostages will be coming home but mourn the fact that more hostages will be taken because South Korea bowed to at least some of the Taliban's demands. But, as Michelle said, "I’ll believe it when they are all back safe and alive."

The price? South Korea will withdraw all troops and ban Korean nationals from going to Afghanistan as Christian missionaries.

The last part is no big deal since it is already against the law in the newly "liberated" Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to try to convert Muslims. The only "missionaries" presently allowed in the country are those on humanitarian missions. Which is what the South Koreans were in Afghanistan for, on a medical mission.

According to Wikipedia the South Korean military has about 60 medics and 150 engineers in Afghanistan. So, it's not a big loss in strictly military terms.

However inconsequential the demands may seem, though, the fact that the South Koreans a) negotiated b) capitulated sends the wrong message and could have some very negative long term consequences. By negotiating with the Taliban the South Koreans legitimize them.

By capitulating they send a very clear signal to the Taliban: taking hostages works.

What we are witnessing is the Spaniardization of South Korea. more...

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NYC Muslim Calls Korean Hostages "Terrorists", Smiles at thought of Daniel Pearl Style Beheading

American Muslim convert and New York City native Yousef al-Khattab outdoes himself and compares the Korean hostages to "terrorists" and suggests that because they are guilty of the "crime" of trying to convert Muslim children that they are worthy of Daniel Pearl's death--beheading.

Khattab's Youtube account was suspended because of outrage generated by LGF and other blog readers, including this one, over remarks praising the murder of Daniel Pearl. It looks like al-Khattab has stealthily reentered the Youtube community as SeeFourAtUrDoor. We know this is Khattab because it has his photo up (image right) and also a link to his website where the video is embedded and labeled "Korean Terrorist Crusaders in Afghanistan".

In his Youtube description of the video which shows Afghan children reciting Christian prayers and singing songs, Khattab, who was born Joseph Cohen before converting from Judaism to Islam and taking a new name, says:

Don't fool yourselves the Taliban are not barbarians like the US & it's coalition forces NAY, these Korean Crusaders were tried and sentenced just as the spy Daniel Pearl was. No apology from this Muslim, rather a BIG smile and lots of Duaa (supplications) for my Taliban brothers in Islam.

P.S. I neither support nor condone the Taliban.

He doesn't support them, but it makes him smile to think that the Taliban will behead these civilian hostages? And he asks for prayers for the Taliban, who he, you know, "doesn't support"?

How long before Youtube suspends Khattab's account this time? Hopefully sooner than all the other awful jihadi supporters on Youtube.

I had seen this video several times before on Islamic forum, all with similar reactions, but hadn't thought twice about it until Howie pointed out that Khattab had it up at his website and Youtube page with his despicable comments.

I'm not saying that trying to convert children to ones religion is the best way for any type of missionary to go--Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, or whatever-- but for whatever lack of class that might show it certainly isn't something worthy of death.

Of course, Islam alone officially prescribes the death penalty (as a maximum penalty) for both the apostate and the missionary trying to induce the Muslim to leave the faith. Barbaric.

But I find it absolutely outrageous that an American living in New York City would have such sentiments!

It's not even clear why the children are there. Islamists on the forums linking the video make it sound as if the children are tricked into saying the Christian prayers and songs. But it's not clear that they aren't the children of Christian converts. Nor is it even clear that those leading the prayers and songs are Korean missionaries let alone the same Koreans being held hostage by the Taliban.

I hope the NYPD and the FBI have an eye on Khattab. I know he claims he doesn't support terrorism, but that means nothing from a guy who excludes the beheading murder of civilian hostages from his definition of terror.

Video below.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin notes that today is day 35 of the Korean hostage crisis and the Taliban have renewed their threats to murder the hostages. Check out the photo she posts of the hostages, do they look like 'terrorists' to you? Somewhere on the streets of NYC Khattab is smiling....... more...

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3 Korean Hostages Begin Hunger Strike

Pray for the strength of these brave captives (via Gulf Times):

Three South Koreans held in Afghanistan by Taliban militants have gone on hunger strike to demand that all 19 remaining hostages be held together rather than in separate groups, South Korean state news agency Yonhap reported yesterday.

Citing an informed source speaking on condition of anonymity, Yonhap said one male and two female hostages went on hunger strike from Sunday morning.

The hostages are reported to have been split into as many as five groups and are being detained at different locations in Ghazni province in central Afghanistan, where they were taken hostage on July 19.

The latest round of negotiations between the Taliban and the South Korean government has come to a standstill (no surprise there) and Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi said that further talks are pointless:

Further talks would be "a waste of time," Ahmadi said, saying that the Taliban's leadership council would now consider the further fate of the remaining 19 South Korean hostages.

A source involved in mediation between the Taliban and the South Korean officials said the Koreans yesterday sent a delegation of tribal chiefs to persuade the Taliban into a solution.

"The Koreans sent a delegation to the Taliban to ask them what they want other than a prisoner exchange," the source said, asking not to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

I'm not really sure how effective a hunger strike is going to be against the Taliban since the basic premise is that the striker is more valuable to the captor alive than dead. When used against civilized countries like the U.S. or Britain, it is a powerful weapon of non-violent resistance. Against a barbaric enemy like the Taliban, I'm afraid it's more like throwing appetizers to a hungry crocodile. However, maybe it will steel the resolve of the Koreans and Afghans to go for a rescue mission, such as the one which liberated German hostage Christina Meier on Sunday. more...

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2 Female Korean Hostages Released

An answered prayer (via Fox):

GHAZNI, Afghanistan — Two South Korean women hostages kidnapped by Taliban militants in mid-July were handed over to officials from the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, the first significant breakthrough in a hostage drama now more than three weeks old.

The two women, who broke into tears after seeing the Red Cross officials, got out of a dark gray Toyota Corolla driven by an Afghan elder and into one of two waiting Red Cross SUVs. The women did not say anything to reporters who had been alerted to the handoff location by a Taliban spokesman.

The women, who the Taliban have said are ill, were among 23 South Koreans kidnapped by Taliban militants on July 19.

The release is the first breakthrough in the hostage drama, which took a downturn in late July when two male captives were executed by gunfire.

Let's continue to pray for the safety of the remaining hostages, that they will receive freedom, and that their captors will receive the same mercy and compassion given to Bae Hyung-kyu and Shim Sung-min.

UPDATE: via MSNBC:

The South Korean Foreign Ministry identified the freed hostages as Kim Kyung-ja and Kim Ji-na. Previous media reports said they were 37 and 32 years old, respectively.

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Video: "Dear People of Afghanistan" (Warning: Tissue Alert)

The families of the kidnapped S. Korean hostages plead directly to the Afghan people to help in returning their loved ones safely home. The spokesman explains why the Koreans went to Afghanistan:

"They went to Afghanistan with the burden in their heart to pay back the debt of love that Korea received unconditionally from numerous countries during the war 50 years ago. They are our sons and daughters. Each one of these twenty-one people under the custody of the Taliban is a precious child to us.

These children went to act on their love beyond race, religion, and borders. Tragic war that tore Korea into pieces is not forgotten. Instead, it is still engraved in our hearts. This is why the Koreans are ready to go wherever the people under suffering may be.

[. . . ]

Thanks to people like those 21 men and women in hostage who helped Korea from all over the world, we are now who we are. We believe in the near future children of Afghanistan will also act in love in other needy countries like those 21 Koreans.

Please send our children so that we can meet them alive. We believe these children will become strong advocates of Afghan when they return to Korea. In that respect I say that we are the one and only country that is in a unique position to be capable of understanding Afghanistan.

Dear people of Afghanistan, though we speak different languages, we believe that our heart will speak to your heart. We believe that Korea is still Afghanistan's friend and hope. Please send our 21 children home that we may hug them once again. May we hug our children once again? Can you send us our children? Please. Please send our family back."

Please keep praying that these families may be blessed by the safe and soon return of their precious loved ones.

H/t Michelle Malkin

Crossposted at Not Ready for my Burqua

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Hell Freezes Over: AP Calls it "Murder"

Buried in this article about the Taliban now saying that they will swap the Korean women hostages for females held in Afghan jails comes the most shocking thing I've seen in the AP since the beginning of the war:

Ahmadi, the Taliban spokesman, reiterated a murder threat against the Christian aid workers.

Seriously, I've never seen any of the major wires call what the Taliban routinely do to their hostages murder. It's always execution or simply killing, but never murder.

Sorta related: Is my old pen-pal and Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi really two people?

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A Letter to My Wife Held Hostage by the Taliban

Have tissue ready. A video letter from Ryu Hang-sik to his wife Kim Yun-yeong who is being held hostage by the Taliban. more...

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Korean Leftists Behind Hostage Demonstrations

Looks like a protest to help the South Korean hostages? It isn't. It's a front for a group that advocates the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Korea and unification with the North.

Sweetness and Light has the info on SPARK, the people behind the protest. Hat tip: Brian.

We continue to demand that the Taliban release the hostages unconditionally and support the position of no quid-pro-quo for hostages. The result of paying ransom or giving in to hostage demands is always the same: more hostages taken.

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Someone Finally Paying Attention to Korean Hostages in U.S.

Michelle Malkin to the rescue. She'll be talking about the murderous pieces of filth in the Taliban holding 21 Christian hostages tonight on Fox News. They already murdered two of them.

I hope she mentions the fact that in the first few days of the crisis, the Taliban accused the medical missionaries of "crimes against Islam". Under traditional Islamic law, those found trying to convert a Muslim may be punished with death.

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Taliban: No Doctors for Sick Hostages

The Taliban has refused access to a team of Afghan doctors who volunteered to treat two seriously ill S. Korean hostages. Via Monsters and Critics:

The rebels did not trust the doctors, spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusif Ahmadi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

If the hostages died because they had received the wrong treatment, then the Taliban would be held responsible for their deaths, he said.

Ahmadi had said on Wednesday that two of the abducted women were so ill they could die.

The Taliban had no medicine for them, he said.

Never mind that the Taliban would be responsible for their deaths in any case, since they were the ones who kidnapped them. We've already seen how successful the Taliban's treatment of sick captives is. Just ask Bae Hyung-kyu and Ruediger Diedrich. more...

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S. Korea Negotiates With Taliban Over Hostages

Despite reports yesterday that a rescue mission was underway to free the 21 remaining S. Korean hostages held by the Taliban, the U.S. and South Korea said today that no military action is being considered. Afghan troops, meanwhile, are conducting raids in the Ghazni area where the captives are being held, but insist that they are not aimed at the Taliban who seized the kidnapped Christians. Just other Taliban. Who just happen to be in the area.

Via Monsters and Critics:

Kabul/Seoul - The purported spokesman for Afghanistan's Taliban insurgents said Thursday that their members had the first direct talk by telephone with South Korean delegates aimed at securing the release of 21 remaining hostages held by the rebels for the past two weeks.

The spokesman said that the conversation was held between the South Korean ambassador to Kabul and a representative of the Taliban rebels after the South Korean government announced its readiness for direct negotiations.

'Today there was a contact via telephone,' Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yusif Ahmadi told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa by phone from an undisclosed location. 'Actually they have not asked us for face-to-face talks yet, and if they ask us for a meeting and specify the place and time, our representatives are in Ghazni, they are ready to meet them.'

Ahmadi said they will accept no substitute for the prisoner release they are demanding, and that South Korea should ask the international community and United Nations for help.

UPDATE: U.S. won't rule out force to free Afghan hostages

“All pressures need to be applied to the Taliban to get them to release these hostages,” said Richard Boucher, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia. “We hope that pressure can be effective in a variety of ways, the goal is to get these people released unharmed, to get them released peacefully and safely.”

more...

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Hostage Rescue Operation Begins Or has it?

UPDATE by Rusty: Reuters withdraws original story:

Please be advised that the Kabul datelined story reporting that an operation to rescue 21 Korean hostages held by the Taliban had begun is wrong. The official cited in the story did not make the comment reported. There will be no substitute story.

That's odd....via Michelle who has constant updates.
-------
Via Reuters:

GHAZNI, Afghanistan -- A military operation to rescue the remaining 21 Korean hostages held by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan began on Wednesday, hours after a Taliban deadline expired, a provincial official said.

"The operation has started," said Khowja Seddiqi, the district chief of Ghazni's Qarabagh district, where the Taliban kidnapped 23 Korean Christian volunteers nearly two weeks ago.

He did not give more details or say which forces were involved.

Any attempt to rescue the hostages is fraught with risk, as the kidnappers have split the 18 women and three men into small groups and are holding them in different locations across the mainly flat terrain.

Pray for the success of this mission and for the safety of the hostages and their rescuers.

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Video & Images: Korean Hostage's Body Found

A short video of the Afghan Army finding the body of Korean hostage Shim Sung-min, murdered by the Taliban. May he rest in peace and may the pigs and scum who killed him meet justice in the form of a bullet to the head.

Warning: Disturbing images and video below. The monsters in the Taliban murder on a daily basis. However, the vast majority of the victims are Afghan nationals who oppose their extremism and who the Taliban label "traitors".

Friends and family of the Korean hostages should not view. Some of you, though, need to see this. If you are not outraged by the kidnapping and murder of these hostages, then please look. You need to be outraged. more...

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Afghan Police Find Body of 2nd Slain Hostage

Breaking news via AP/Yahoo News:

GHAZNI, Afghanistan - Police in central Afghanistan at daybreak Tuesday discovered the body of a second South Korean hostage slain murdered by the Taliban, officials said.

The victim's body was found in the village of Arizo Kalley in Andar District, some 6 miles west of Ghazni city, said Abdul Rahim Deciwal, the chief administrator in the area.

A purported Taliban spokesman claimed the hardline militia Muslim terrorists killed murdered the Korean hostage Monday evening because the Afghan government failed to release imprisoned insurgents captured Islamist terrorists.

Update by Vinnie: Okay, I've edited this quote with the actual truth.

UPDATE II:Taliban Set New Deadline

The Taliban commanders set a new deadline of noon on Wednesday.

“If the Kabul government does not release the Taliban prisoners, then we will kill after 12 o’clock — we are going to kill Korean hostages,” Ahmadi said. “It might be a man or a woman... It might be one. It might be two, four. It might be all of them.”

UPDATE: A video has been released of the body being found. more...

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Video: Korean Hostages in Afghanistan

A video given to al Jazeera from a source they claim is "outside of Afghanistan" showing some of the Korean hostages. The image above is from that video. The video simply shows some of the female hostages, with their hair forcibly covered, and cowering. The original is said to have 3 men in it, thus it is thought to be at least four days old.

Two hostages have already been murdered by the Taliban. They are Shim Sung-min and Bae Hyung-kyu. 19 of the 21 other hostages who were on a humanitarian mission to Afghanistan are women. The Taliban claim that the Christian missionaries are guilty of death under Islamic law. Under traditional sharia--Islamic law--the penalty for trying to convert a Muslim is death.

Both of the videos shown here are from al Jazeera. Interestingly, the reporter in the second video seems to be more of an advocate than a journalist. Not surprising coming from al Jazeera. She slips and says we are trying to pressure the South Korean government. She later goes on to say that the South Korean delegation is actively trying to pressure the Afghan government into a "hostage swap"--the standard Taliban and radical Islamist phrase, meant to equivocate the Korean hostages to Taliban prisoners of war.

Videos below. more...

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Second Korean Hostage Murdered!

Shim Sung-min, martyr. Murdered by the Taliban for crimes against Islam. The "crime"? Accused of preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. more...

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Korean Hostage Pleads for Help

This news report contains audio of a hostage's call to the Reuters news service, begging for help. In the call, the woman says they have been held for 9 days (they were kidnapped on July 19). She says the Taliban are threatening to kill them one by one. Continued prayers for their safe release.

UPDATE: Female Korean captive interviewed by Reuters identified as English interpreter

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Taliban Issues New Deadline To Murder 22 Innocent Christians

The Taliban have issued another statement. Like little children throwing a tantrum over a lost toy, the Taliban says it will murder 22 innocent people, mosty women, who have nothing to do with holding their fellow criminal gangsters. I've added a few edits to the reuters story.

Via CNN: KABUL, Afghanistan (Reuters) -- Taliban leaders said on Sunday their fighters would kill murder 22 remaining South Korean hostages if the Afghan government did not release rebel prisoners Taliban criminals by a new deadline of 0730 GMT on Monday, a spokesman said.

Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said the deadline had been set by the Taliban leadership council, headed by elusive leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, giving the threat added weight.

The kidnappers killed murdered the leader of the Korean group on Wednesday, but several further deadlines have passed without the rebels carrying out their threat to kill murder the remaining hostages.

"Since the talks between us, the Kabul administration and Korean government have reached deadlock and they are not honest ... hence, we will start killing murdering the hostages....

Is this Islam? The murder of innocents Christians in the name of Allah because a group of illiterate criminals, who can't even dress themselves, can't get their way?You can express your offence directly to the Taliban spokesman here.

On the Taliban's old website, they listed this phone number for Qari Mohammad Yousuf, aka "Ahmadi". Presumably, this is how the AP called him.

(011 from US, then) 8821621515539

Or you can e-mail him here: qarimohammadyousaf@yahoo.com

A second phone number for another Taliban spokesman, "Mujahid"

(011 from US, then) 8821621360585

ROPMA. Nothing less than the immediate release of these people will do. Nothing can make up for the life already taken. more...

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Korean Hostages Still Alive as Deadline Passes

The Taliban deadline of noon Friday Afghan time (3:30 a.m. EDT) has expired, but the hostages are still alive, according to the Afghan deputy defense minister. The demands now include the release of 8 Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government.

Via CNN:

The Taliban spokesman said Afghan authorities had asked for more time after the insurgents presented the government with a list of eight prisoners it wanted released.

"The administration of Kabul has asked us to give them till 12 noon today," spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.

"We are waiting for them. We have given them a list of eight prisoners and if they are not released we won't have any other option than to start killing the hostages."

South Korean chief presidential national security adviser, Baek Jong-chun, is expected to arrive in Afghanistan later on Friday to step up efforts to free the hostages.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged not to swap prisoners for hostages after being criticized for releasing five Taliban from jail in March in exchange for an Italian reporter.

The president and ministers have remained silent throughout the latest hostage ordeal.

Let's continue to pray for the Korean hostages and for Rudolf B., the German hostage and his Afghan colleagues, who haven't been heard from for several days now. more...

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A Korean Hostage's Plea for Help

All of the 22 remaining hostages held by the Taliban are sick and in fear of their lives (we know the compassionate treatment the Taliban gives to sick captives).

Via BBC:

The woman, who identified herself as Yo Syun Ju, told an Afghan reporter by telephone all the hostages were sick.

"Tell them to do something to get us released," she said in an interview carried out in the presence of the Taleban militants holding her captive.

A group of 23 Koreans was abducted a week ago. The kidnappers have since killed one of the hostages.

In an interview obtained by the BBC from an Afghan journalist, Ms Yo, who said she was from Seoul, described her situation as "dangerous", adding: "Day by day it is getting very difficult...

"We are all sick and we have a lot of problems."

We need to pray as hard as we can for these hostages, for the strength to endure their ordeal and not to despair. I love the prayer on Rusty's thread; here's another:

O blessed Lord, who thyself didst undergo the pain and suffering of the Cross; Uphold, we beseech thee, with thy promised gift of strength all those of our brethren who are suffering for their faith in thee. Grant that in the midst of all persecutions they may hold fast by this faith, and that from their stedfastness thy Church may grow in grace and we ourselves in perseverance, to the honour of thy Name, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost art one God, world without end. Amen

Anyone who would like to help keep vigil is welcome to post their favorite prayers or Bible verses in the comments.

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