2007年VOA标准英语-Taleban Says it Released Two South Korean Hosta

By Benjamin Sand
Kabul
11 August 2007

Taleban insurgents¹ say they have released two of the 21 remaining South Korean hostages they kidnapped more than three weeks ago.  The word came as the insurgents completed a second day of face-to-face talks with South Korean officials in Afghanistan. VOA correspondent Benjamin Sand reports from Kabul.

Taleban representatives Mullah Bashir (L) and Mullah Nasrullah (2L) walk with officials as they leave the Afghan Red Crescent Society, 11 Aug. 2007

Taleban leaders say the two women were both sick and have been freed as a gesture of good will.

But there is still no independent verification of the Taleban's claims. Government officials say they have not seen the two women yet but hope they have been released.

The apparent breakthrough comes as Taleban and South Korean officials complete their second day of face-to-face talks in the Afghan city of Ghazni.

Taleban insurgents kidnapped 23 South Koreans on July 19 as the group of Christian² volunteers drove through the wartorn province.

Two of the South Koreans have already been executed, and insurgents have said they will kill more unless the government frees a number of pro-Taleban prisoners.

So far the government has refused to consider an exchange.

Afghan Interior Ministry³ Spokesman Zemarai Bashary says the government is providing security for the talks in Ghazni, but is not directly involved.

"I cannot go into too many details about the issue [but] this much I can say: Afghan representatives were not in that meeting," he said.

Provincial⁴ governor Merajuddin Pattan says the government did offer Taleban leaders safe passage to attend the negotiations⁶ and remains⁷ committed to supporting the South Korean initiative.

"We told them that we would guarantee the negotiation⁵ process and that there would be no operation against them until this dilemma⁸ is solved," he said.

Four South Korean delegates and two Taleban leaders are involved in the talks, which started Friday evening in a heavily guarded Afghan Red Crescent office. 

The insurgents have said all along that they would kill the hostages, most of whom are women, unless the government frees a number of pro-Taleban prisoners.

The Afghan government has said from the start it would not exchange prisoners for hostages, and it is not clear if the South Korean negotiators can promise the release of any Taleban.

However, Afghan authorities in touch with the Taleban say the militants⁹ are also seeking a ransom¹⁰ payment. 

In an incident earlier this year, Afghanistan released five top Taleban prisoners in exchange for an Italian journalist being held hostage.

There was widespread criticism of that agreement, by U.S. officials among others, who argued that it would only provoke more kidnappings in the future.

South Korea, however, has pleaded for greater flexibility¹¹, and has sought U.S. support for the effort to free the 21 remaining hostages.

1 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

2 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

5 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

10 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

11 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。