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We are asking prayer for safety,well-being and release of the Korean hostages from Taliban terrorists. 2-3 of the hostages have been murdered! Negotiations for release are political, so the process is slow and painful. Please pray for families involved waiting for their loved ones. Thank You for your prayerful support. Hebrews 13:3..Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, and those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also.

Hostage Group Returns to Korea to Relieved Relatives and Angry Critics Nineteen South Korean aid workers, held hostage by the Taliban for 42 days, returned home early Sunday morning to a mixture of sorrow, relief and anger. The members of The Saemmul Church missionary group ignored their government's warning not to travel to Afghanistan. Two of the male hostages were killed and there were reports that some of the women had been raped. While they were being held in Afghanistan, there was little open criticism of the missionaries, some of whom were killed. But now that they are safely home,...

Taleban militants vowed to abduct more foreigners after ending a six-week hostage drama by releasing the last seven of a group of kidnapped South Koreans under a deal with the Seoul government. We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful,’ Taleban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told the Associated Press via cell phone from an undisclosed location. The seven hostages were handed over Thursday to the International Committee of the Red Cross in two separate exchanges close to the central Afghan city of Ghazni, Red Cross officials and an...

The seven remaining South Korean hostages taken captive last July by the Taliban have been released, and insurgents have vowed they will abduct more foreigners. "We will do the same thing with the other allies in Afghanistan, because we found this way to be successful," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told The Associated Press by phone on Thursday. Twenty-three 23 South Koreans, all volunteers from a church group, were kidnapped by Taliban militants on July 19. Two of the male captives were later executed by gunfire. The group had come to Afghanistan to volunteer at hospitals, and were travelling from...

Taliban free all Korean hostages Critics say Seoul may have set a dangerous precedent by dealing with the Taliban [Reuters] The Taliban's last three South Korean hostages have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after six weeks in captivity. The man and two women were in a Red Cross vehicle being driven to the town of Ghazni, Irfan Sulejmani, an ICRC official, said late on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Taliban had released four South Korean hostages. Two men and two women were delivered to ICRC representatives by tribal mediators on a road...

Afghan doctors deliver medicine to Korean hostages By Sayed Salahuddin Afghan doctors delivered medicines on Sunday for 21 South Koreans kidnapped by Taliban rebels in Afghanistan more than two weeks ago. The head of a private Afghan clinic said his team had dropped more than $1,200 worth of antibiotics, pain killers, vitamin tablets and heart pills in an area of desert in the Qarabagh district of Ghazni province as instructed by the rebels. "This is a big achievement. Among the Koreans are doctors who know how to use these medicines," Mohammad Hashim Wahaj told reporters in Ghazni, the main town...

Hostage Families Reject Anti-American RalliesThe families of the Korean hostages spoke out against a movement to hold the U.S. responsible for the unresolved crisis, saying anti-American demonstrations could put the hostages' lives at greater risk. The families turned down an offer by some anti-American organizations to stage a candlelight rally. Lee Jeong-hoon, a representative of the families, said on Thursday, "Since an anti-American demonstration could have a negative influence on the negotiations for the release of the hostages, we have made efforts to avoid being involved in any such demonstrations." "An anti-American movement could be what the Taliban want," Lee...

An operation aimed at rescuing the remaining 21 Korean hostages held by the Taliban began on Wednesday in Afghanistan's Ghazni province, a provincial official said, hours after the expiry of another Taliban deadline. "The operation has started," said Khowja Seddiqi, the district chief of Ghazni's Qarabagh district, where the Taliban kidnapped 23 Korean Christian volunteers nearly two weeks ago. He did not give more details or say who was involved.

GHAZNI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A female hostage among the remaining 22 Koreans held by Taliban fighters appealed on Saturday for a speedy end to their ordeal, as a senior Afghan official said force may be used to free them if talks fail. The woman, one of 18 female hostages among the South Korean Christian volunteers kidnapped in Afghanistan more than a week ago, spoke to Reuters on the mobile phone of a Taliban fighter. "We are tired and being moved from one location to another," she said in broken Dari, one of the main languages in Afghanistan. "We are kept...

S.Korea Bars Citizens from Iraq Travel After Kidnap Thu Apr 8, 2004 09:08 PM ET SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea barred its civilians on Friday from visiting Iraq after seven South Korean missionaries were kidnapped and then released amid worsening violence a year after the fall of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. The spokesman for the presidential Blue House said the government was also evacuating non-essential staff from its Baghdad embassy. Separately, Acting President Goh Kun ordered boosted security at diplomatic missions in the Gulf region. "The government strongly recommends people refrain from traveling to Iraq because it sees the security...

Fri 9 Apr 2004 12:32am (UK) Leave Iraq Or We'll Burn Hostages Alive, Kidnappers Tell Japan "PA" Rebel fighters terrorised and threatened to burn alive three Japanese civilians unless their country agreed to pull its troops out of Iraq, in a video shown to the world. The rebels armed with assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, held knives to the throats of the Japanese, who screamed in terror on the video, released yesterday, and said they would burn them in three days. The kidnappers shouted: “Allahu akbar” – God is great. But Japan’s government said it has no plans to pull...

David Lee Miller on FoxNews reporting that 3 Japanese coalition soldiers may have been captured by the insurrectionists. Claim is from al-Jazeera. No independent confirmation.

Photos off Al- Jezeera of the captured Koreans and Japanese. Not graphic but show Islamic brutality Thu Apr 8, 9:18 AM ET Japanese civilian detainees are seen at an undisclosed location in this image made from video released Thursday, April 8, 2004. The captives were identified as Noriaki Imai, Soichiro Koriyana and Nahoko Takato. Eight South Koreans and three Japanese were kidnapped Thursday by insurgents in Iraq (news - web sites), and captors armed with automatic rifles and swords threatened to burn the Japanese alive if Tokyo did not withdraw from the U.S.-led coalition. Associated Press Television News obtained a...

<p>Also, Iranian TV is airing footage of two Arab residents of Jerusalem, reportedly kidnapped in Iraq, and the British government is hunting down a citizen who has been missing since Monday.</p> <p>The Arabic-language news channel Al-Jazeera Thursday aired video showing three kidnapped Japanese citizens in Iraq.</p>