Kabul bans Taliban media meets

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -- Afghan officials banned journalists Sunday from operating near the site where talks on the fate of 21 South Korean hostages are being held, one day after two Taliban leaders held a news conference there.

Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni province where the hostages were kidnapped on July 19, said the ban -- which bars interviews, photography and videotaping -- was imposed during the negotiations because the Taliban might exploit the media spotlight.

"It's because the Taliban will take advantage and show off, so we don't want to give them that chance," Pathan said. "This is a terrorist group."

Talks began Saturday between the Taliban and South Korean officials concerning the release of the hostages, members of a church group in Afghanistan to do aid work. Two hostages have been shot dead.

On Sunday, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousef Ahmadi reiterated the group's intention to release two sick, female hostages, possibly before the end of the day, although a timetable was not established.

In an extraordinary scene that hasn't happened in years in Afghanistan, two top Taliban leaders were surrounded by throngs of journalists Saturday as they gave an impromptu news conference outside the Afghan Red Crescent office.

The leaders, Mullah Qari Bashir and Mullah Nasrullah, traveled to the city of Ghazni after being assured safe passage by the Afghan government. Veteran reporters in Afghanistan said the Taliban leaders' news conference was the first since the fall of the hardline militants in late 2001.

Pathan said the media ban would be lifted as soon as the hostage talks are over -- "maybe within the next two days." He said the ban applied only to the area around the Red Crescent office, where the talks are being held, though journalists reported that police and intelligence officials told them the ban applied to the entire province.

Mujeeb Khalwatgar, the director of the Afghanistan Press Club, criticized the ban as contrary to the country's constitution and a recently passed media law. E-mail to a friend

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