hostage

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Chavez Fired as Hostage Mediator
Chavez Fired
as Hostage Mediator

Chavez Fired as Hostage Mediator

Colombian prez says he overstepped boundaries

(Newser) - Colombia ended Hugo Chavez's try at freeing 45 hostages from Marxist rebels today, Reuters reports. The Venezuelan prez had been brokering their release for weeks when he apparently breached protocol by talking to a Colombian general. "Can you imagine (Russia's president) calling the chairman of the U.S. chiefs...

Germany Paid Dearly for Hostage Release

Afghan captors secure cash, cronies' freedom in risky precedent

(Newser) - On one hand, the German government successfully negotiated the release of a German engineer held hostage in Afghanistan; on the other, the deal cost the Germans a hefty ransom, the release of five prisoners, and its hard line against granting terrorist demands, reports Der Spiegel. "I have purchased a...

Sarkozy Heroics Made-for-TV
Sarkozy Heroics Made-for-TV

Sarkozy Heroics Made-for-TV

President's 1993 "Human Bomb" story remade for television

(Newser) - In the hagiography of Nicolas Sarkozy, no story looms larger than the then-mayor's 1993 negotiation with a psychotic who took children hostage at a daycare center. Now, writes the Times of London, French state television is releasing Human Bomb, a docu-fiction of the 46-hour standoff between Sarkozy and the hostage...

Monks Hold Burmese Officials Hostage

Incident ends in release as protests of fuel price hikes rage

(Newser) - Hundreds of angry monks have released Burmese government officials they held hostage for over 5 hours yesterday, the Guardian reports, in protest of the military regime’s fuel price hikes. Reading Buddhist scriptures, nearly 500 monks burned the officials’ cars, locked them inside a monastery, and surrendered the prisoners only...

Taliban Frees 4 More Captives
Taliban Frees 4 More Captives

Taliban Frees 4 More Captives

Last Koreans also scheduled for release

(Newser) - Taliban militants released four of their remaining seven South Korean hostages today. The two men and two women were released to Red Cross officials on a road in central Afghanistan, the AP reports. The Red Cross is on its way to pick up the three remaining hostages from the original...

8 Korean Hostages Freed
8 Korean Hostages Freed

8 Korean Hostages Freed

Taliban freeing prisoners after reaching a deal with South Korea

(Newser) - The Taliban released eight hostages today, a day after reaching a deal with the South Korean government. Three who were released earlier this morning were brought to the town of Ghazni by tribal elders—acting as mediators—then handed over to the Red Cross. South Korea has agreed to pull...

Deal Reached on Hostages
Deal Reached on Hostages

Deal Reached on Hostages

Taliban, Seoul agree on terms, including withdrawal of troops

(Newser) - Talks between the Taliban and the South Korean government have resulted in the outline of a deal to release the remaining 19 hostages held in Afghanistan for over a month. The agreement involves withdrawal of Korea's 200 noncombat troops and an end to missionary activity, CNN reports, but not payment...

Korean Hostage Talks Fail
Korean Hostage Talks Fail

Korean Hostage Talks Fail

Taliban says demands not met; group is considering the fate of 19 captives

(Newser) - As the 19 remaining Korean hostages await news of their fate, negotiations to secure their release have failed, according to a Taliban spokesman. The terror group says its principal demand—the liberation of insurgents being held by coalition forces—was not met; South Korean officials have insisted Seoul has no...

Mission Church Does Some Seoul Searching

Hostage crisis has Korean Christians pondering direction

(Newser) - As 19 South Korean aid workers wallow in a Taliban prison camp, many in the world community are openly wondering why they were in Afghanistan in the first place. Even as they pray for the release of their fellow parishioners, members of a suburban Seoul church are dodging critics who...

Taliban Frees 2 South Korean Hostages

Women in Red Cross custody after roadside hand-over

(Newser) - The Taliban freed two of the South Korean hostages abducted in Afghanistan today, releasing them to the Red Cross in Ghazni province, the Telegraph reports. A BBC reporter saw the two women, who were reported to be in "fair" health and were released after talks with South Korean negotiators....

South Korea Begins Taliban Hostage Talks

Hostages said to be safe while negotiations continue

(Newser) - A South Korean team began face-to-face negotiations with the Taliban today, hoping to secure the lives of 21 Korean aid workers abducted last month. The meeting is taking place in an Afghan government-controlled zone where the Taliban has been guaranteed temporary safe passage. Seoul has already cautioned that it doesn't...

Hostage: We Don't Want to Die
Hostage: We Don't Want to Die

Hostage: We Don't Want to Die

Medicines delivered to South Korean captives

(Newser) - Afghan doctors yesterday delivered medicines to 21 South Korean hostages held by Taliban rebels as one of the captives pleaded for their lives in an emotional radio interview. "We are all sick and weak," a nurse told Voice of America, pleading with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon to...

Seoul Pleads for Taliban Talks
Seoul Pleads for Taliban Talks

Seoul Pleads for Taliban Talks

Delegation arrives in Afghanistan while Afghans, Taliban search for venue

(Newser) - South Korean officials are in Afghanistan seeking direct talks with the Taliban, Reuters reports, as the terrorist group and the Afghan government bicker over a venue for their own negotiations to free the  21 remaining Korean hostages. Two male members of the church group have been killed by the kidnappers.

Seoul to Taliban: Our Hands Are Tied

Frustrated South Korean govt. lacks authority to satisfy kidnappers' demands

(Newser) - South Korean officials on a desperate mission to Afghanistan are attempting to impress upon the Taliban that they cannot single-handedly meet the organization's demands. The delegation has been in contact with the kidnappers in an efforts to negotiate the release of 21 South Korean hostages, Reuters reports, but it can't...

Seoul Seeks Direct Talks With Taliban

South Korean delegation heads to DC to seek help in hostage crisis

(Newser) - South Korean delegates arrived in Afghanistan today to press for an end to the 2-week hostage crisis that has left two dead, Reuters reports. Seoul has asked for direct talks with the Taliban, which continues to hold 21 church workers, most of them women. But South Korea is powerless to...

Body of Second Korean Hostage Found
Body of Second Korean Hostage Found

Body of Second Korean Hostage Found

More will die unless prisoners are freed, kidnappers warn

(Newser) - Afghan police have found the body of a second Korean hostage killed by the Taliban, Reuters reports. The man was shot in the head, and his body found in a clover field close to the spot where 23 Korean missionaries were kidnapped last week. The kidnappers have threatened to kill...

Taliban Claims Second Hostage Death
Taliban Claims Second Hostage Death

Taliban Claims Second Hostage Death

(Newser) - The Taliban has killed a second South Korean hostage, a spokesman for the extremist group told CNN in a telephone interview today, adding that the corpse was dropped off in the province of Ghazni in central Afghanistan. Officials have not located any bodies in that area. The militants already murdered...

Afghan Hostage Talks Stall as Threats Escalate

Karzai blasts Taliban, saying abductions are 'against Islam'

(Newser) - The Taliban will kill 22 South Korean hostages tomorrow if the Afghan government does not release insurgent prisoners, a spokesman for the kidnappers said today. The Taliban leadership council issued the most recent death threat since the abductions Wednesday, signaling its seriousness, Reuters reports. And Afghan and foreign troops are...

Captive Pleads for Rescue From Taliban

Woman says she and 21 other South Korean hostages are ill

(Newser) - A South Korean woman pleaded to be rescued with her fellow hostages yesterday, saying all of church volunteers being held captive by the Taliban are sick and the situation is growing worse. Her captors listened to her conversation with an Afghan reporter, the BBC reports; the 32-year-old nurse wept as...

Korean Envoy Presses to Save Remaining Hostages

Taliban still holds 22 kidnap victims

(Newser) - A day after militants shot and killed a hostage, a high-level South Korean envoy is rushing to Afghanistan today to try to save the lives of the 22 remaining hostages held by the Taliban. South Korean and Afghan officials insist they won't use force to free the captives, though the...

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