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ReutersTaliban says no more talks on Korean hostages
By Sayed Salahuddin
KABUL (Reuters) - Taliban rebels on Sunday ruled out more talks with the Afghan government over their remaining 22 South Korean hostages and said the release of militant prisoners was the only way out of the crisis.
An Afghan team that was supposed to have held more talks with the Taliban on Saturday could not reach the group because of security concerns in Ghazni province, provincial sources said. The team hoped to persuade the insurgents to free without condition the Christian volunteers they kidnapped from a bus 10 days ago in Ghazni, south of Kabul.
A deputy interior minister on Saturday told Reuters that force might be used if talks fail. Qari Mohammad Yousuf, a Taliban spokesman, warned on Sunday against use of force and pressed for the freedom of the rebel prisoners as the main condition for the release of the Koreans.
"There is no need for further talks. We have given the government a list of Taliban prisoners who should be released and that is our main demand," he told Reuters by telephone from an undisclosed location.
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