http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IH07Df02.html Taliban hold Afghanistan hostage By Haroun Mir
KABUL - Hostage-taking in Afghanistan has become a business for both the Taliban insurgents and criminal bands. In addition to foreign hostages - the most recent being a group of South Korean missionaries still in captivity - a number of Afghan businessmen and their family members have been kidnapped for ransom, but they don't make the international media. Twenty-three South Koreans were kidnapped by the Taliban on July 19 while traveling from Kabul to Kandahar. Two male hostages have since been executed as the Taliban's demands for the release of 23 Taliban prisoners have not been met. On Monday, a Taliban spokesman was quoted as saying that more foreigners would be captured. He added that the fate of the Koreans rested with Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US President George W Bush, who are meeting in the United States. The Korean abductions follow several others in the past few months that have gained the Taliban widespread publicity - and rewards. As one Taliban commander was quoted as saying, "It's a very successful policy." Clearly, the Taliban have come to understand the value of public opinion in democracies. This year Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo was seized with two Afghans - his driver and an interpreter. The Italian was swapped for five senior Taliban prisoners; the Afghans were beheaded. Mastrogiacomo become famous overnight, but he gave Afghans the impression that his life was worth more than those of his Afghan employees - and he also provided the Taliban with the incentive to focus more on hostage-taking. Looking for trouble ... Mastrogiacomo and the Koreans either misunderstood or ignored the highly volatile situation in southern Afghanistan. This reckless behavior had obvious repercussions for them, but also endangers Afghans and, most important, foreign experts who work for reconstruction and development projects throughout the country. After the Mastrogiacomo incident, in which the Afghan government was pressured by Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi to concede to the Taliban demands, Afghan authorities should also have become more vigilant about the free movement of foreigners in the conflict zone. The Korean missionaries fell into the hands of Taliban who were making a routine check of vehicles on the Kabul-Kandahar highway. It's impossible to say why the Koreans chose to go on this road in insurgent-infested territory when they could have flown, or organized better protection. The church with which the hostages are affiliated - a large Presbyterian congregation in the Seoul suburb of Bundang - is fully aware of the dangers of kidnappings in the Taliban-dominated areas of Afghanistan. Last year, several hundred South Korean missionaries came to Afghanistan and wanted to travel by road to various parts of the country. But the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) expelled all of them before they could fall into danger. This time, a relatively smaller group might have escaped the scrutiny of the NDS. >From their perspective, the missionaries obviously wanted to spread the word of God, as well as aid. But they have ended up jeopardizing their lives (two already dead) and, crucially, in undermining the efforts the North Atlantic Treaty Organization coalition fighting the insurgency and reconstruction projects financed by the international community. For example, the Japanese government plans to remove all of its aid workers from Afghanistan. This plays right into the Taliban's hands, as their short-term objective is to stall reconstruction projects and prevent much-needed economic development in the southern part of the country so that they can win over the hearts and the minds of the masses themselves. In future, those who want to take the risk of traveling to dangerous spots in Afghanistan should bear the consequence of their acts. It is unfair to jeopardize the destiny of a nation with one's personal agenda. Without the presence of NATO forces and generous financial support from the international community, Afghanistan will fall once again into chaos and misery. The presence of NATO forces is closely related to the barometer of public opinion of their countries back home. The Taliban and their foreign backers are well aware of this and will try hard to manipulate it even further. Haroun Mir was an aide to the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, Afghanistan's former defense minister. He works as a consultant and policy analyst in Kabul. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? 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