AFGHANISTAN: South Korean relatives remember killed hostage pastor Bae Hyung-kyu while country demonstrates to demand release of 22 others still being held

Relatives in South Korea prepare for funeral of executed South Korean hostage in Afghanistan while the nation demands the release of the remaining 22 captives. Afghan police step up security in Ghazni where it's believed the Koreans are being held, carrying out random checks on locals. Relatives and friends of a South Korean hostage who was killed by the Taliban in Afghanistan rememebered him in his hometown on Friday (July 27). The grieving community in Jeju gathered around a photograph of pastor Bae Hyung-kyu who was executed this week by his captors. Bae was being held with 22 other Christians sent by their church in Bundang. Most of the captives are in their 20s and 30s and include nurses and English teachers. Yonhap News Agency said they were providing only free medical or educational services in Afghanistan with no missionary intentions. Bae's brother Shin-kyi appealed for the release of his brother's body. "We want his body to return with the remaining hostages because they left here together. Pastor Bae's body should come at last when other hostages return to home." In Seoul, about a hundred anti-war activists held a rally on Saturday (July 28) to urge the Taliban to free the the remaining 22 hostages. Holding placards that read "immediate withdrawal" and "swift return," participants chanted slogans calling for South Korean troops to be withdrawn from Afghanistan. "It was reported that a hundred people who seemed to be Taliban were killed. And I think that is the real reason behind this situation. This kind of tragedy will be repeated and the situation will not stop unless these problems are solved. The troops must be withdrawal and military occupation must end," said activist Kim Kwang-il. The Afghan government has sent a team of local and national politicians, clerics and tribal leaders to negotiate with the hostage-takers in Ghazni, but authorities on Satuday said they may use force if the talks fail. Police set up checkpoints, stopping cars and conducting body searches of people entering Ghazni city in an attempt to avoid any possible action by Taliban militants. A Taliban spokesman on Friday confirmed that the remaining 22 Koreans, who've been held for over a week are alive despite the expiration of a Taliban deadline for the Afghan government to release a named list of detainees.

ITN Source | July 28, 2007

Tags:. .entering. .demands. .christians. .troops. .teachers