A Taliban spokesman said Saturday that face-to-face negotiations with the South Korean delegation over the fate of 19 kidnapped aid volunteers have failed and future talks are unlikely.
After two rounds of in-person talks - with the last meeting held Thursday - the Taliban complained of lack of progress and said on Saturday that they are currently deciding the fate of the Koreans.
"The negotiations have failed. The Taliban leading council is making its decision now on the fate of the hostages," spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told Agence France-Presse.
Since the beginning, the rebels have demanded the release of jailed militants in exchange for the hostages, which originally numbered 23, and now numbers 19 after the deaths of two male captives and the release of two female captives. The Afghan and US Governments, however, have repeatedly made it clear that the release of prisoners was not an option.
Both Aghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President George W Bush have said releasing rebels would further encourage kidnapping as an industry in the insurgency-wracked country and support terrorism.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai was criticised by the United States and other Western countries earlier this year for giving into terrorism after he released five Taliban prisoners in exchange for an Italian reporter in March. He had vowed that the exchange would be a one-time deal.
