08/14/07

Taliban wins media attention with South Korean hostages, gaining platform to push agenda

By ALISA TANG
Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- A string of hostage dramas in Afghanistan has been a publicity coup for the Islamic militants of the Taliban, who hope high-profile kidnappings will help drive out foreigners and make Afghans view them as powerful.

In the latest and biggest case, militants grabbed 23 South Koreans in mid-July and within days released video images and an audio interview of the hostages, winning media attention around the world and creating a platform for the Taliban to push its political agenda.

Soon after, two top Taliban leaders were granted safe passage by Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government for face-to-face talks with Korean officials. That led to a Taliban news conference in the street _ an embarrassing 100 yards from an Afghan intelligence service office.

"The fact that the Taliban have been given this legitimacy is a body blow for the U.S.-led occupation and may signal many more kidnappings of a similar nature," said Anthony Moorhouse at Dynamiq Pty Ltd., a security consulting firm in Australia. "The success that this kidnapping has brought to the Taliban, in terms of political leverage, is beyond even their expectations."

The hard-line militia has taken a broad approach in using the Koreans. It showed a harsh hand by killing two of the male hostages and then a more moderate side by conducting negotiations with the Korean officials and releasing two female captives Monday.

The first images of the South Koreans came 11 days after their July 19 capture, when the Al-Jazeera television network showed shaky footage of seven women wearing Islamic veils and crouching in the dark, keeping their eyes closed or staring at the ground.

That tactic was not new. The Taliban released a video in April of two French aid workers kidnapped in southwestern Afghanistan. Both were later let go, in part because French President Nicholas Sarkozy said French troops would eventually leave Afghanistan, the Taliban said.

The Taliban also permitted a British Broadcasting Corp. reporter to interview one of the Koreans, a woman who pleaded over the phone for help to secure the group's freedom, saying the captives were sick.

Media coverage has added "enormous pressure to the government of South Korea," Moorhouse said. "They have a duty of care to the South Korean captives, but also need to be strong in the face of terrorism. They cannot be seen to be caving in to terrorists."

Interviews are part of the Taliban campaign. In recent weeks, the group has offered journalists the chance to talk with other foreigners held hostage, apparently hoping to build pressure on the Afghan and U.S. governments into meeting its demands for the release of Taliban prisoners.

It is clear from the interviews that the hostages' comments are controlled by the captors, with statements made in the context of the Taliban drive to get its fighters out of jail.

Media organizations are left trying to provide stories that meet interest in the news of a hostage incident without becoming a mouthpiece for kidnappers.

Associated Press guidelines, for instance, warn its reporters against being used as a propaganda conduit or paying for access to hostages, possibly encouraging more kidnappings. AP also seeks to avoid reporting that could put hostages at even greater risk.

BBC urges its reporters to "consider carefully the ethical issues raised by providing a platform to hijackers, kidnappers or hostage takers." It doesn't allow live interviews of kidnappers or broadcast of raw audio or video supplied by hostage-takers.

The Los Angeles Times, which has 20 overseas bureaus, does not pay for interviews, spokesman Stephan Pechdimaldji said. He said the newspaper had not been offered access to any hostages, but would probably not accept such an invitation.

Seth Jones, a counterinsurgency expert at the RAND Corp. think tank, said the Taliban's hostage-taking is designed to send messages to two different audiences.

First, the Taliban want to demonstrate to Afghans their commitment to "fight the international presence in Afghanistan and establish a pure, Islamic state," he said.

The second goal is to undermine the internationally backed economic development program meant to increase support for Karzai's government, he said. The Taliban is trying to coerce foreign governments and groups to leave by focusing attacks on aid workers and reconstruction projects, Jones said.

"The message this sends is, 'You get into the rural areas, it's dangerous, so don't come,'" he said.

The U.S. government has a strict policy of not negotiating with terrorists, including the Taliban. But other countries have contributed to militants' coffers and even to their rank and file through prisoner swaps.

The Italian and Afghan governments were heavily criticized in March for freeing five Taliban prisoners to win the release of an Italian journalist. And the head of the Italian aid agency Emergency said the Rome government paid a $2 million ransom last year for a kidnapped Italian photographer _ a claim Italian officials did not deny.

Such incidents showed the Taliban that kidnapping is a powerful bargaining chip.

"The fact that the Koreans are willing to negotiate with them _ this is a major achievement for the Taliban," said Mustafa Alani, director of security and terrorism studies at the Dubai-based Gulf Research Center.

The talks in Ghazni also bolstered the Taliban's self-portrait as an alternative government in waiting _ a force ready to resume the hard-line Islamic regime that was driven from power by a U.S.-led military campaign in late 2001.

To Ghazni residents who watched the two Taliban leaders openly speaking with reporters in the street, the Taliban were blatantly flexing their muscles.

"They gave a press conference in front of Red Crescent gate, and it showed that they are powerful," said Mohammad Agha, owner of an electronics shop. "Police were watching, surprised; the intelligence service watched, surprised."

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Associated Press writers Amir Shah in Ghazni, Afghanistan, David Stringer in London and Lily Hindy in New York contributed to this report.