la, Aug 2 (ANISouth Korea and the United States have ruled out the possibility of a military operation to secure the release of 21 South Korean hostages in the Taliban captivity in Afghanistans Ghazni Province.
Manila, Aug 2 : South Korea and the United States have ruled out the possibility of a military operation to secure the release of 21 South Korean hostages in the Taliban captivity in Afghanistan's Ghazni Province.
According to a South Korean Foreign Ministry official, South Korean Foreign Minister Song Min-soon and U.S. Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte discussed the issue on the sidelines of ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) in Manila on Thursday.
"The two sides ruled out the possibility of military operations and placed a top priority on safely resolving the issue by mobilising all means,'' Song was quoted as saying after the meeting.
Meanwhile, the ARF began on Thursday by expressing concern over Korean hostage crisis and called for the release of 21 South Koreans held by the Taliban.
Foreign ministers of nearly 30 countries extended their sympathy to South Korea and the families of the hostages, and expressed "deepest regret at what has happened," Philippine Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo said.
"We all wish that the remaining 21 hostages be returned to their families as soon as possible," Romulo said in a statement.
Pointing out that global terrorism poses a serious threat to all nations, the participating countries called for greater counter-terrorism cooperation between ASEAN and its ten dialogue partners.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama specifically mentioned Al-Qaeda and LTTE as a major threat to mankind.
Australia has also offered help to secure the release of South Korean hostages.
"We have quite a number of troops in Afghanistan, in the southern part of Afghanistan. I don't know that there is anything that we can do but if there is, we would be happy to assist the South Koreans," The News quoted Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer speaking at the summit.
Meanwhile, an operation to rescue 21 South Korean hostages has begun in Afghanistan on Wednesday to free kidnapped Korean Christian volunteers who have been in captivity for nearly a fortnight.
The Taliban has killed two of the 23 hostages, and threatened to shoot more if their demand of a prisoner release is not met. South Korean officials have reportedly been holding talks with the Taliban to try to secure the hostages' release.
The 23 Korean Christian aid workers - 18 of them women - were seized on July 19 as they were travelling on a bus down the Kabul-Kandahar Highway.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has already refused to swap prisoners for hostages, after he was criticised for releasing five Taliban members from jail in March in exchange for an Italian reporter.
ANI