Talks resumed with an indefinite deadline between the Taliban and an Afghan government mediation team after Afghan officials said Friday that differences among abductors had briefly suspended the talks for the release of 22 South Korean Christian volunteers held by the Taliban, according to dpa. The provincial governor for Ghazni province, Mehrajuddin Patan, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the talks resumed later Friday following the expiry of their last deadline at noon, and after a brief halt on Friday morning. "Now there is no deadline, the talks are ongoing and we hope to reach an a solution soon," Patan said, while he earlier had said the militants extended the deadline as they kidnappers were not ready. Meanwhile, Khawaja Mohammad Sedeqi, a member of the mediation group, said that they sent local and tribal elders to the area and talks resumed. He earlier said that kidnappers had differences among themselves and wanted more time to settle these. "The kidnappers told us in the morning to give them time and they would inform us once they reach an agreement among themselves," Sedeqi said, adding: "We've been calling them on their phones every minute since this morning, but their phones are off. We are ready to carry on with talks." Sedeqi said that his team was ambushed for the second time by the militants in Qara Bagh district on Friday afternoon, but after an hour-long gunbattle the rebels fled the area. The team was also attacked by kidnappers on Wednesday, but in both incidents there were no casualties. Sedeqi said that the abductors were divided into three groups and each had a varying demand for the release of the hostages. On Thursday a top official from the Afghan government side, who is also a member of the mediation group, said that the kidnappers had become three groups, each with different demands. One group, mainly comprised of Taliban insurgents from the restive southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand, demanded the release of their group members jailed in Afghanistan. But the other two seemed willing to accept different amounts of ransom money in exchange for the captives, the source told dpa. Earlier on Friday Alishah Ahmadzai, provincial police chief of Ghazni province, said the negotiations were still ongoing but refused to provide more details. Taliban spokesmen were not available for comment on any new deadline. Afghan and Taliban officials said Thursday that the kidnappers had extended the original deadline for the release of 22 South Korean hostages until Friday noon. "The Ministry of Interior has promised to solve the matter and asked us to extend our deadline. We have extended it until tomorrow 12 pm," spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousif Ahmadi said on Thursday. The talks resumed Thursday after stalling on Wednesday afternoon following the killing of one the hostages, and an attempt to kill Afghan mediators, one member of the mediation team said. "Even after the attack on us and the killing of one of the hostages, we resumed the talks, but when the Taliban wanted to hand over two of the hostages, a man and a women, they saw US military vehicles in the area, escaped back and halted all contact," the official said, requesting anonymity. "According to our information, all 22 Korean hostages are safe and alive, and negotiation is going on," Sedeqi had said on Thursday. Taliban spokesman Ahmadi also confirmed that the 22 hostages were alive. "Since the government promised to try to solve the matter in peaceful way, we are still waiting for negotiation," he said. Afghan officials on Wednesday said they had recovered the bullet- riddled body of a South Korean hostage, one of the group of 23 kidnapped in the country by Taliban militants. South Korea also confirmed Thursday the killing of the hostage, identified as 42-year-old pastor Bae Hyung Kyu - the leader of the Christian volunteers - and demanded the immediate release of all those still being held.
