South Korea troops to pull out of Afghanistan on schedule

SEOUL (AFP) - President Roh Moo-Hyun on Saturday urged the immediate release of South Koreans kidnapped by armed insurgents in Afghanistan as Seoul said it would withdraw troops from the war-torn country by the end of 2007.

The appeal was made a few hours before a Taliban spokesman said the insurgent group had killed two German hostages because the Afghanistan or German governments had failed to contact them for negotiations.

"The kidnappers must return the South Koreans unharmed at the earliest possible date," Roh said in a speech on national television.

The Taliban kidnapped 18 South Korean Christians, along with the two German nationals, this week in the insurgency-hit south of Afghanistan.

Reports said the Taliban had also threatened to kill the 18 South Koreans unless Seoul immediately pulls out its 200-strong peace-keeping troops from Afghanistan. But the fate of South Koreans was not known immediately.

Roh stressed that the abducted South Koreans had been engaged in aid activity for Afghan people.

"Innocent civilians must not be held as hostages," he said.