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A South Korean man reads a newspaper showing a picture of kidnapped Koreans during a candle light vigil demanding the safe return of the hostages and the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, in central Seoul on Thursday./ REUTERS
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Voices at home and abroad united to denounce Afghanistan's Taliban militia for killing the Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu, 42, a Korean aid volunteer abducted with a church group. Many Koreans are demanding their government take stern action against the Taliban, while others in countries around the world have condemned the militia and issued statements urging the release of the 22 surviving hostages. Islamic experts have criticized the Taliban, calling the indiscriminate killing a violation of Islamic rules.
¡ß Koreans slam Taliban
Many Koreans at first blamed the 23 volunteers for bringing trouble upon themselves by venturing into a dangerous area without proper security. That criticism gave way to shock when the news of Bae's killing was released. Roh Ki-sung, 55, a businessman, said he was glued to the TV deep into the night Wednesday, upset about Bae's death. "We blamed the volunteers for going to such a dangerous zone in the first place," he said indignantly, "but we cannot tolerate the killing of a hostage."
Some Koreans urged the government to take stronger action on the crisis. Ryu Hwa-hyun, 29, an employee of an IT firm, said, "As long as one of our citizens has been killed overseas, the president should issue a statement denouncing it." Some Internet users urged more radical approaches. "We should annihilate Afghanistan by sending in our army," one wrote. "We should be preparing for war," another message said.
Local civic groups also criticized the Taliban. The Seoul Young Korean Academy said in a statement, "The Taliban once held power in Afghanistan. But they killed a Korean hostage in an inhumane way, ignoring anxious appeals from parents and all Koreans. We strongly urge the government to use all its diplomatic capabilities to win the release of the remaining 22 hostages."
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Online international civic group Avaaz.org has started a petition drive to urge the Taliban to free the remaining 22 Korean hostages. Under the title "Taliban Leaders: Free the Hostages," the website asks people around the world to join efforts to release the abductees.
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¡ß Taliban violate Islamic rules: Middle East experts
Middle East experts say the Taliban's actions run counter to Islamic rules. Chang Byung-ok, director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, said, "It is against Islamic rules to kidnap and kill a person who tried to carry out medical and educational volunteer work." He also said, "The Taliban are Islamic ultra-fundamentalists who have acted in a way that is hard even for ordinary Middle Eastern people to understand. They destroyed the Buddhist statues in the Bamiyan Valley, a cultural treasure of the world."
Lee Hee-soo, a professor at Hanyang University and an expert on Islamic culture, said, "The Taliban do not hesitate to carry out extreme actions to achieve their goals, ignoring Islamic rules, because they are under pressure from all directions from the U.S." Chung Jin-soo, 42, a businessman and a Muslim, said, "The Taliban's indiscriminate killing is against Islamic rules that cherish peace."
¡ß Worldwide petition campaign
An Internet petition urging the release of the Korean hostages has been gathering signatures from around the world. On its website, Avaaz.org, an international civic group, said, "Taliban leaders: Free the hostages." The group is asking people to join in efforts to win the release of the Korean captives. Avaaz.org claims 900,000 members from 198 countries. As of Wednesday, U.S. time, the petition had collected signatures from 36,900 people, out a goal for 50,000. Avaaz.org on its website urged the Taliban to "honor the code of the Pashtun people, respect aid workers as guests in Afghanistan and release all hostages unharmed."
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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