Word: taliban
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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This spring, when Italian journalist Daniele Mastrogiacomo was kidnapped in the southern province of Helmand, the Afghan government, going against U.S. wishes, exchanged the hostage for five Taliban prisoners. It is also alleged that another Italian, photographer Gabriele Torsello, was ransomed for $2 million last October, fueling speculation that these more recent kidnappings may be motivated by financial as much as political gain. "Rumors are going around that the Koreans are worth $1 million a head," says Parliamentarian Khalid Pashtun. "So of course this is going to encourage more kidnappings." At this point it's unclear if Meier's abductors...
...German woman was kidnapped in broad daylight today in Kabul, a month after two German engineers and their five Afghan colleagues were abducted in nearby Wardak province, and 23 South Korean Christian volunteers were seized from a bus by the Taliban in Ghazni, just 3 hours from the Afghan capital. This spate of kidnappings in and around the capital heralds an alarming trend for foreign nationals working in Afghanistan...
...German engineers was shot within a few days of his abduction, and while two of the South Korean volunteers have been released as a sign of good will, two were killed and negotiations for the remaining 19 have stalled. In exchange for the Korean hostages, the Taliban is demanding the release of 8 insurgent captives - a concession the Afghan government, with the support of the U.S., has refused to consider. While the assault on the Koreans is clearly related to the insurgency, it appears that the German engineers were initially abducted by a criminal gang who may have passed them...
...this town will have it happen one way or another, be it a kidnapping, a threat of kidnapping or a holdup," she adds, saying that in the past month there have been two kidnappings on her street, despite a police presence. "Security in this town is a joke. The Taliban are talked about incessantly, but no one talks about this stuff - this is the real reason Afghanistan can't catch its breath, not the insurgency, but the relentless and unanswered spate of criminal activity and corruption...
...Butters fails to mention that Hamas, Fatah, Islamic Jihad and Hizballah are all united with al-Qaeda, Iran and the Taliban in their desire to obliterate the state of Israel. If Israel did not guard its borders, it would be overrun by suicide bombers and its citizens would be murdered daily. Israel, until recently, provided Gaza with most of its water, energy and power needs. Fatah's former leader Yasser Arafat embezzled $3 billion from his poor Palestinian "brethren." Furthermore, in light of Saddam Hussein's paying $10,000 to each suicide bomber's family and of the alliance between...