Associated Press reports that one of the nineteen remaining South Korean Christian hostages being held by the Taliban passed up a chance to go free so that another female hostage who was ill would be released instead.
Lee Jee-young, 32, wrote a note to her parents which was passed on by the two female hostages freed earlier this month. She told her parents that she was faring well, healthy, eating well, and wasn't sick.
The Taliban took 23 South Korean Christian aid workers hostage in southern Afghanistan last month. Of the 23 hostages, two men were shot and killed and two women were released. The South Korean government has been in discussions with the Taliban for the release of the remaining 19 hostages - five men and 14 women.
The UK Guardian reports that an Afghan physician is in regular telephone communication with Mullah Mansour, the Taliban commander in the area where the South Korean Christians were kidnapped. Dr. Mohammad Hashim Wahaaj reported Friday that in addition to the telephone conferences, he has delivered medicines to the Taliban for transmission to the hostages, and that the hostages are in good health.
The two female hostages released earlier this month have given an interview to Al-Jazeera television in which they pleaded with the Taliban to release the remaining 19 hostages. Kim Kyung-ja, 37, and Kim Ji-na, 32, were released on August 13. In the interview, the two women confirmed the story that Lee Jee-young had stayed behind so that one of the two ill women could be released instead. They also reported that their hearts were heavy and the burden of being free while their co-workers were still hostages.
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