Taliban fighters did not kill 23 South Korean hostages after the deadline once again expired on Tuesday, but demanded the exchange of eight Taliban prisoners for eight hostages first, a tribal elder engaged in the talks told Xinhua.

The tribal elder Wahid Mujda said Afghan authorities had received the list of eight Taliban prisoners.

A purported Taliban spokesman, Yousuf Ahamdi, said negotiations now are under a very critical stage, and the Taliban did not plan to extend the deadline for another 24 hours.

A Taliban commander, only known as Abdullah who held the hostages, said the exchange of eight Taliban prisoners for eight South Koreans would be the first step and that the two sides should discuss other issues after this deal is completed.

Before this, the Taliban had twice extended the deadline for killing the hostages, each for 24 hours, until 7:00 p.m. (1430 GMT)Tuesday.

The 23 South Koreans were kidnapped by Taliban militants on a road in the central Ghazni province on last Thursday afternoon.

Afghan and the U.S.-led coalition forces have cordoned off a suspected Taliban hideout in Qarabagh district of Ghazni to secure the release of the hostages.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Ahmadi said militants would kill all the 23 hostages if the troops recklessly carried out a storm.

The Taliban also demanded the withdrawal of 200 South Korean troops from this country. The South Korean government said the soldiers would be pulled out at the end of 2007 as scheduled.

Taliban militants have carried out kidnappings in this country time and time again over the past two years, and some hostages were killed by the Taliban.
 

Editor: Yan