Muslims Urge Taliban to Release Korean Christian Hostages
Hundreds of Muslims in South Korea urged the immediate release of the 22 Korean Christian hostages still held captive in Afghanistan by Taliban militants during their Friday prayer.
The gathering was held at the Seoul Central Masjid where over 400 Muslims convened, spending five minutes to mourn the death of the first and thus far only victim, 42-year-old youth pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, as well as the remaining Korean hostages who are said to be ill.
"We, Korea Muslim Federation and the Muslims in Korea, express our deepest condolences for the Korean victims in Afghanistan and share his family's sense of bereavement," said Abdul Rashid, who gave the Friday sermon, according to Yonhap news agency.
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Rashid in his sermon emphasized that it is not "true Islam" if the Taliban killed the hostages, quoting from the Koran: "kill not anyone whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause."
"Islam respects human life," Rashid said, according to Yonhap.
Meanwhile, in Afghanistan, a former Taliban member – who is now part of the Afghan parliament – has joined the negotiating team for the release of the hostages, according to The Associated Press on Saturday.
Former Taliban commander Abdul Salaam Rocketi was joined by several influential Afghan elders in talks with the Taliban insurgents, said Shirin Mangal, spokesman of the Ghazni provincial governor.
"Today we are hopeful to get a good result because more and more elders have gathered from Ghazni," said Qarabagh police chief Khwaja Mohammad, according to AP. "I hope the Taliban will listen to these negotiations now because they are neutral people – elders from around Qarabagh district."
Ghazni officials say that the respected elders and clerics will explain to Taliban militants that taking hostage is unacceptable in Islam and Afghan culture.
"My message to the Koreans, in particular to the families of these men and women being held by the Taliban, is this: We are optimistic. Don't worry. We are doing our best…Please be patient," said Ghazni lawmaker Habib Rahman, according to AP.
"A lot of people are involved today. Inshallah (if God wills it), they will not kill them," he said.
Afghan officials have said that negotiations with the Taliban have been difficult because the kidnappers give conflicting statements and demands. Some have called for the release of women hostages, others have demanded the exchange of rebel prisoners, while still others demand ransom money.
Generally, however, the Taliban appears to be demanding the release of rebel prisoners in exchange for the South Korean hostages. They have also demanded South Korea withdraw its 200 troops from Afghanistan.
It has been over a week since Taliban militants abducted 23 South Korean Christians in insurgency-prone Ghazni province. The church group was on their way to provide free medical services to poor Afghan citizens when their bus was hijacked last Thursday. The leader of the aid group, Bae Hyung-kyu, was found dead this past Wednesday with 10 bullet holes in his body.
The kidnapping is the largest abduction of foreigners in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.
"I had wished that all of the 23 hostages come back to their homes without any accident," said Kamal Kaair, the first secretary at the Sudanese Embassy in Seoul, who attended the Friday meeting in South Korea.
"Whether the hostages are men or women, their lives must be held in high respect," he added. "The Taliban must refuse the use of violence or abduction."
