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Afghans have taken to the streets against a bizarre ¡°peace march¡± planned in the devoutly Muslim nation by hundreds of Korean evangelicals as violence continued unabated in the country. It emerged Thursday that an explosive device was recently discovered in the vest of a Korean aid worker.
Hundreds of students, Islamic clergy and residents protested against the peace march at the Blue Mosque in northern Afghanistan¡¯s Mazar-i-Sharif on Wednesday, Foreign Ministry officials dispatched to Kabul told the Chosun Ilbo by telephone. "We've heard that some in the area were told, ¡®Leave. If you don't it will be dangerous,¡¯" one said. Reuters quoted protestors as saying the Afghan government must send the Korean back as they went there to proselytize -- a grave offense under Sharia or Islamic law.
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South Koreans sit in a bus as they prepare to leave the city of Herat, Afghanistan on Thursday. Afghanistan plans to deport hundreds of visiting South Korean Christians over security fears after Islamic clerics demanded their expulsion, accusing them of trying to spread Christianity, Afghan sources said. /REUTERS-Newsis
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Rumors that Korean prostitutes had entered the country and that the Christian groups were carrying ¡°giant crosses¡± marching through downtown did little to defuse the situation.
Meanwhile, a Foreign Ministry official told reporters a hand grenade of the type and a manufactured explosive device were found in one of the yellow vests worn by Korean Red Cross volunteers in the Surobi area approximately 75 km east of Kabul on July 24. The official said the matter was still being investigated. The security situation in the war-torn country continues volatile. On Tuesday, 18 Taleban fighters were killed in skirmishes with Afghan and international troops, and on Wednesday three died in a car bombing. A government official again pleaded with the event organizers to cancel the march. He said 180 of the 200 Koreans living in Kabul have left for Korea or nearby countries.
However, a source with the Institute of Asian culture and Development (IACD) that is organizing the event claimed the Foreign Ministry is exaggerating the danger and insisted the march will go ahead as scheduled.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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