[originaltext] Taliban insurgents say they may release 21 South Korean hostage

Taliban insurgents say they may release 21 South Korean hostages more than 3 weeks after they kidnapped them. The word came as the insurgents held a second day of face-to-face talks with South Korean officials in Afghanistan. Taliban negotiators told reporters Saturday that the 21 hostages could be released as early as today or tomorrow. However, the negotiators also said they thought a number of Taliban militants being held prisoner by the Afghan government would also be released. Today, the Afghan government has said it would not exchange prisoners for hostages. Face-to-face talks between the Taliban and South Korean officials are being held in the Afghan city of Ghazni, in the same province where 23 South Koreans were kidnapped on July 19th. Two men in the group have already been executed by their captors. Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Zamarai Bashari says the government is providing security for the talks in Ghazni, but is not directly involved. "I cannot go into too many details about the issue, this much I can say: Afghan representatives were not in that meeting."  Four South Korean delegates and two Taliban leaders are involved in the talks which started Friday evening in a heavily-guarded Afghan Red Cross office.