Associated Press
Saturday, July 28, 2007; A16

KABUL, July 27 -- A purported Taliban spokesman warned Friday that some of the 22 remaining South Korean hostages in Afghanistan were in bad health, saying hours after the kidnappers' latest deadline passed that the captives were crying and worried about their future.

Meanwhile, in eastern Afghanistan, two NATO soldiers were killed and 13 wounded in a major clash with insurgents in a high mountain area where U.S. soldiers do most of the fighting.

Qari Yousef Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the kidnappers, said by phone that the Taliban still insisted on an exchange of prisoners for the captives, who could be killed if the demand was not met. Ahmadi spoke several hours after the most recent Taliban deadline passed but said the militia had not set a new one.

Some of the South Koreans were "not in good condition," Ahmadi said. "I don't know if the weather is not good for them, or our food. The women hostages are crying. The men and women are worried about their future."

One hostage, 42-year-old pastor Bae Hyung-kyu, was found dead with multiple gunshot wounds Wednesday.

Local tribal elders and clerics continued telephone negotiations with the captors and were struggling with conflicting demands that included ransom payments as well as the release of Taliban prisoners.

Meanwhile, a South Korean presidential envoy arrived for talks with President Hamid Karzai and other top officials, and Afghan officials said they remained optimistic about the chances of freeing the hostages without further bloodshed.

The South Koreans, including 18 women, were kidnapped while traveling by bus on the Kabul-Kandahar highway, Afghanistan's main thoroughfare.

Their church said the captives were not involved in Christian missionary work in Afghanistan and had provided only medical and other volunteer aid to distressed people in the war-ravaged country.

It said it intended to suspend some of its volunteer work in Afghanistan.