Two veteran Pakistani journalists have offered Korea new insights into the hostage crisis involving 21 Koreans in Afghanistan. Pakistan GEO TV’s senior political analyst Hamid Mir and political analyst Rahimullah Yusufzai, an expert in Afghan and tribal affairs, briefed the Chosun Ilbo about their phone calls with Taliban commander Abdullah Jan, who led the abduction, and the Taliban's senior commander in Ghazni Province, Mullah Sabil Nasir. Yusufzai has interviewed Taliban leader Mullah Omar 12 times and al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden twice. A veteran journalist familiar with the Taliban, Mir interviewed Laden three times.
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Pakistan GEO TV’s senior political analyst Hamid Mir during an interview with al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
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Commander Jan said the Korean hostages are being held in several groups inside and outside Ghazni Province. Other Taliban officials went into more detail, saying the captives are held in five different places. But Nasir, who is the chief Taliban negotiator for hostage negotiations, claimed the hostages are being held in a single compound. Jan on Sunday said the captors give the Korean hostages bread, juice, cheese, rice and tea every morning. Except for two female hostages, the others are well and are not frightened, he said. The Taliban also gave English books to hostages and new clothes to the women, he added. Jan said the militants try to provide food and a good environment to Korean hostages, but the environment is rough on Koreans unused to it.
Asked why the Taliban killed two innocent people among the Korean hostages, Nasir said they believed one of the two victims was a spy since he had a satellite phone and din not answer to repeated questions about his mission in the country. Indeed, in a Taliban-dominated area, the analyst said, a man carrying a satellite phone could easily be mistaken for a spy.
Nasir said he was unaware that the 200 Korean troops stationed in Afghanistan are engineers and medics. He said he saw Muslims living in Korea ask the Taliban to free the hostages on TV and respected their opinion. But Nasir said Korea was an enemy of Muslims since it is helping the U.S. and U.K. in Afghanistan.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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