Taliban Agrees to Release Korean Hostages

Good news! The Taliban have agreed to release the 19 Korean hostages they have been holding hostage. I've just seen this reported on Al Jazeera TV, which said that the Korean govt. agreed to withdraw it's troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year, and to stop Christian missionary work. That's a bit of clever negotiating since the South Koreans had planned to withdraw their troops by the end of the year anyway. As for the missionary work - it's not ideal that it will stop, but I can't imagine any South Korean teams will want to go now unless there unless there is a huge improvement in security.

Other media have picked this story up, after two days of hopeful speculation over unofficial reports that the hostages would be released. This is from the Bangkok Post:

"Taliban rebels intend to free all 19 South Korean hostages they have been holding for nearly six weeks, the South Korean president's office was quoted as saying Tuesday by the country's Yonhap news agency. It was not yet clear when the hostages, all members of a Christian aid organization, would be released. The Taliban have demanded that South Korea withdraw all its troops from Afghanistan by the end of the year and halt Christian missions to the country in exchange for the hostages. South Korean diplomats and members of the Taliban had reportedly been meeting in Afghanistan after a 10-day interruption in the talks."

According to this from the BBC the "AFP news agency reported an Afghan tribal chief as saying that the hostages would be freed "in three or four days". But Mr Cheon said the exact timing of their release could not yet be confirmed, according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency." Mr Cheon is the spokesman for the South Korean Presidential office.

This is great news. These heroes aren't home yet, so let's keep them in our thoughts and prayers.

Update 31 AUG: See my latest post for further good news.