South Korea sees near end to hostage ordeal
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South Korea said the remaining seven Korean church volunteers held by the Taliban in Afghanistan were likely to be freed on Thursday, a day after 12 of their colleagues were released from an ordeal of nearly six weeks.
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Aides to the country&#39;s most powerful Shiite leader said they had reached a tentative agreement Thursday to end the three-week siege in this holy Shiite city, following a day
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Twenty-three South Korean hostages held by Taliban rebels in Afghanistan are in good health and any use of force to rescue them would put their lives at risk, a Taliban spokesman said on Monday.
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The 19 South Korean Christians freed by Afghanistan&#39;s Taliban after six weeks in captivity will arrive home on early Sunday, foreign ministry officials said.
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KABUL, Afghanistan -- Taliban militants threatened yesterday to kill at least 18 kidnapped South Korean Christians, including 15 women, within 24 hours unless the Asian nation withdraws its 200 troops from Afghanistan.
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The announcement signaled an end to a wrenching hostage crisis that had gripped South Korea for almost six weeks.
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Â· Seoul says withdrawal of troops planned alreadyÂ· At least 15 women among 23 Christian hostages
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South Koreans released from six weeks of captivity in Afghanistan spoke Friday about their ordeal, describing how they were kidnapped and apologizing to their government for causing trouble.
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ANYANG, South Korea  - Nineteen South Korean Christian volunteers held hostage by the Taliban in Afghanistan for six weeks returned home to an uncomfortable welcome on Sunday, thanking their government for winning their release.
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SOUTH KOREAN CHRISTIANS: 23 South Korean Christian aid workers are taken hostage while traveling by bus from Kabul to Kandahar on July 19. Two of the hostages were shot and two women were freed. The Taliban agree to free the remaining 19 in exchange for a promise from South Korea to end missionary work in Afghanistan and withdraw its troops from the country by the end of the year, as previously planned.
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The Taliban kidnappers of 23 Korean hostages on Sunday extended the deadline for the South Korean government to agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 24 hours to 10:30 a.m. EST on Monday.
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A South Korean delegation arrived in  Afghanistan on Sunday to try to secure the release of 23  Koreans held hostage by Taliban guerrillas, a South Korean  embassy official said.
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Taliban insurgents will release 19 South Korean Christian volunteers they have been holding for nearly six weeks in Afghanistan, South Korea's presidential Blue House said on Tuesday.
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Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf said patience was running out in talks over 23 South Korean hostages kidnapped by insurgents in Afghanistan and said rebel prisoners must be freed by 0930 GMT on Wednesday.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, July 22 -- Afghan security forces on Sunday surrounded the location where Taliban fighters are suspected to be holding 23 South Korean hostages and were prepared to launch an operation if negotiations broke down, Afghan officials said.
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GHAZNI, Afghanistan  - Taliban insurgents said on Tuesday they would release 19 South Korean Christian volunteers they have held for nearly six weeks, provided Seoul pull out its troops and stop Korean missionary work in Afghanistan by year-end.
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ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Aug. 28 -- Negotiators in Afghanistan said Tuesday they had reached agreement on a deal that will allow 19 South Korean church volunteers to go free after six weeks in Taliban captivity, apparently ending a hostage crisis that has gripped both nations, officials said.