Ghazni officials said the respected elders and clerics would explain to Taliban militants that taking hostage is unacceptable in Islam and Afghan culture.
"A lot of people are involved today. Inshallah (if God wills it), they will not kill them," said Ghazni lawmaker Habib Rahman, according to AP.
Two days of meetings between elders of Qarabagh district in Ghazni and a delegation of senior officials from Kabul, have yielded no results so far, however, reported Shirin Mangal, spokesman for the Ghazni provincial governor.
"So far there is no progress from the meetings," Mangal said, according to AP.
"There is no need for further talks," purported Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi told Reuters by telephone Sunday from an undisclosed location. He said the militant group had given a list of insurgent prisoners it wants released in exchange for the hostages - the Taliban's "main demand" - and was now waiting for the government to act.
So far, however, Afghan authorities are refusing to release rebel prisoners after the government came under criticism in March for freeing five Taliban in exchange for an Italian reporter
"Our goal is to seek ways on how we can free the hostages without compromising our laws and regulations in regards with such cases," police chief Alishah Ahmadzai of Ghazni province said to AFP.
A deputy interior minister on Saturday told Reuters that force might be used if talks fail, but Taliban spokesman Yousuf warned against use of force, saying Sunday that "it will jeopardise the lives of the hostages and the Taliban will resist till the last gasp of their breath."
Several foreigners have been held this year by Taliban militants waging a deadly insurgency against the Western-backed government that replaced the hardline regime driven from power in late 2001.
Most of the foreign abductees have been freed, some apparently after hefty ransom payments, although in one case two Afghans also captured with the Italian journalist were beheaded.
