South Korean hostage pleads for help on US television

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A South Korean woman held hostage along with 21 fellow aid workers by Taliban militants in Afghanistan begged for help during a phone interview, CBS television said yesterday.

"We are in a very difficult time. Please help us," said the woman, who told CBS that her name was Yo Cyun-ju.

"We are all pleading for you to help us get out of here as soon as possible. Really, we beg you," she said in comments posted on the network's website.

The Taliban said yesterday the 22 South Korean Christians were still alive following the discovery of the bullet-riddled body of their leader in a desert area on Wednesday.

The militants had demanded that Seoul withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. South Korea responded by saying it would pull them out as previously scheduled by the end of the year.

The US State Department yesterday expressed regret over the death of the South Korean hostage, saying "our hearts go out to the family and the South Korean people."

"Certainly, we support the South Korean government in its desire to have its people back safely," department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

"These people should be released, unconditionally, immediately, and unharmed, back to South Korean authorities, so they can return back to their families," he added.

CBS said it interviewed Yo late Wednesday, after an interview was arranged with a Taliban commander. She spoke in Korean and an Afghan dialect of Farsi, CBS added.

"All of us are sick and in very bad condition," she said, begging the South Korean government and the international community to make a deal with the Taliban to win their freedom.

"We are in a dreadful condition," she said. She went on to describe her captivity as a "very difficult life every day," and "a very exhausting situation," CBS reported.