(7 Aug 2007)
Kabul
1. Various of Ghazni Governor Marajudin Pathan meeting Afghan officials
2. Close of photographer
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Marajudin Pathan, Ghazni Governor:
"We are waiting for the final face to face discussion to be held between (South) Korean and the Taliban side. We are expecting tonight that they will pinpoint the place where the discussions will take place."
4. Cutaway of cameras
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Marajudin Pathan, Ghazni Governor:
"Tonight there will be one of our government officials there as well."
(Q: And where is the location?)
"The location will be in Ghazni but it will be determined this evening, not now."
(Q: How is the health of the kidnapped hostages?)
"Two hostages are ill, women."
6. Wide shot of Afghan officials
Ghazni
7. Various exterior shots of local mosque
8. Various of boys at religious class in mosque reciting from the Koran
9. Mid shot of Koran
10. Various of students reciting Koran
11. Close-up of Koran
12. Various of religious teacher Qari Sediq Ahmad teaching students
13. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Qari Sediq Ahmad, religious teacher:
"They, the Taliban, are the opposition. People know them, they have military power and the whole world knows them. So their demands which are acceptable should be accepted. And in the same way we ask them (the Taliban) to release the hostages safely without harming them, so they can go back to their country."
14. SOUNDBITE: (Dari) Mohammad Jamal, student:
"It (kidnapping) is very bad and good Muslims should not do it."
15. Mid shot students reciting Koran
16. Close shot of Koran
STORYLINE:
South Korean officials and Taliban militants will determine late on Tuesday a location for their first face-to-face talks over the fate of 21 hostages, said Marajudin Pathan, the Governor of Ghazni province, where the Koreans were kidnapped.
As the hostage drama moved into its 20th day, Pathan said South Korean officials and Taliban militants will agree on Tuesday evening on a meeting place.
The two groups have been conducting talks over the phone for several days.
"We're expecting that tonight they will pinpoint the place where the discussions will take place," Pathan told The Associated Press in Kabul.
Pathan said that the meeting was likely to take place in Ghazni province, but could not provide any further details and added that two of the female hostages remained ill.
South Koreans Embassy officials were not immediately available to comment on the matter.
The Taliban have said they are ready for face-to-face talks even in government controlled territory, provided that the United Nations guarantees their delegation's safety.
A purported Taliban spokesman on Tuesday said a meeting between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and President George W. Bush had "no result," and that militants' demands must be met if 21 South Korean hostages are to be safely released.
The purported spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said Bush and Karzai must accept Taliban demands that militant prisoners be released in exchange for the lives of South Korean hostages or there will be a "bad result."
The militants kidnapped 23 Korean aid workers travelling by bus from Kabul to Kandahar on July 19.
Two male hostages have been killed.
The Afghan and US presidents ruled out making any concessions to the Taliban militants during their meetings on Sunday and Monday at Camp David, Maryland, US.
The Taliban have demanded that 23 militant prisoners being held by Afghanistan and at the U.S. military base at Bagram be freed in return for the Koreans, but the Afghan government has all but ruled that option out.
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