SOUTH KOREA: South Korean protesters demand withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan in candlelit protest

South Korean protesters demand the withdrawal of their troops in Afghanistan to secure the safety of 23 Koreans kidnapped by the Taliban. South Korean civic group members continued to hold protests on Monday (July 23) night in the centre of Seoul, demanding that South Korea withdraw its troops from Afghanistan in the hope that 23 Korean hostages being held by the Taliban will return home. The hostages are in good health but any use of force to rescue them would put their lives at risk, an Afghan government official said on Monday. The Taliban on Sunday extended a deadline for South Korea to agree to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and the Afghan government to release Taliban prisoners to 1430 GMT on Monday. After that they said they would start killing the Koreans. South Korea's anti-war civic groups have held a series of rallies since the Koreans were kidnapped last Thursday (July 19) while on an aid mission to Afghanistan. About 150 protesters demanded South Korean governments should withdraw its troops from Afghanistan, holding up candles and chanting anti-war slogans. Their slogans on the placards read in Korean, "Immediate Withdrawal. Safe Return." "South Korea is a peace-loving nation. So we should behave like peace-loving people. That means an immediate withdrawal of troops," said protest leader Keum Min. A South Korean government delegation is in the Afghan capital Kabul holding talks with government officials. While tribal elders tried to mediate between the militants and government negotiators, Afghan forces had surrounded the group of some 70 kidnappers in the Qarabagh area of Ghazni province, south of Kabul. The Koreans are the biggest group of foreigners seized so far in the militant campaign to oust the U.S. backed government and force out foreign troops. South Korea has no combat troops in Afghanistan, but has a contingent of 200 engineers, doctors and medical staff, mostly serving with foreign troops. The troops are planned to be withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of this year.

ITN Source | July 23, 2007

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