Taliban kidnappers killed one of its 23 South Koreans hostages and will kill the rest if their demands are not met by 2030 GMT (4.30 pm ET) on Wednesday, a Taliban spokesman said.

The Taliban had complained the Afghan government had failed to release any Taliban prisoners as the kidnappers had demanded and as, according to the rebel spokesman, Korean negotiators had assured them Kabul would do.

New deadline
“Since Kabul’s administration did not listen to our demand and did not free our prisoners, the Taliban shot dead a male Korean hostage,” Taliban spokesman Qari Mohammad Yousuf told Reuters by telephone from an unknown location.

“If the administration of Kabul is not ready to release our hostages, then by 1:00 am (local time) the rest of the hostages will be killed,” Yousuf said.

“That time is the last deadline.”

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has pledged not to swap prisoners for hostages after being heavily criticized both at home and abroad for releasing five Taliban from jail in March in exchange for an Italian reporter.
The kidnappings have made travel outside major cities risky for the thousands of foreign aid workers and United Nations staff in Afghanistan and may weaken support for military involvement among the more than 30 nations with troops in the country.

German freed
The 23 Korean church volunteers — 18 women and five men — were seized in Ghazni province last week.
Elsewhere in Afghani- stan, a German journalist and his Afghan translator kidnapped in the east of the country overnight were freed on Wednesday.

One other German and four Afghans abducted last week are still in captivity.

Kandahar, AFP : Afghan authorities on Wednesday said they were optimistic that talks with Taliban militants to secure the freedom of the hostages would yield a result.

Afghan officials ‘optimistic’
“I can’t tell you how long this is going take but I am optimistic our talks will get a result,” Waheedullah Mujadadi, who is leading a government delegation negotiating for the release of the captives, told AFP.