Taliban want 118 militants in exchange for two Chinese engineers

The taliban demand that Pakistan release 118 terrorists for the release of two Chinese engineers. The Post

PESHAWAR: Chinese government has undertaken backchannel efforts through unofficial actors to seek the release of their kidnapped engineers but Taliban say they will let the two Chinese nationals go unhurt if the government releases their 118 detained militants.

In an exclusive talk with this correspondent from an undisclosed location in Swat on Tuesday, Haji Muslim Khan, a spokesman for defiant Taliban leader Maulana Fazalullah, said that the two Chinese engineers were in the custody of the Taliban and they were safe.

"We do take care of them and we do provide to them food and drinking water in day time when we remain with fast (roza)," he said. Muslim said that the Taliban had recently released video of the detained engineers.

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To a question about the efforts being made for the release of the hostages, he said that the Chinese government had been in close contacts with the Taliban for the release of their nationals. "China has approached us through some unofficial individuals including a senior journalist of NWFP," revealed the Taliban spokesman.

The negotiating team could visit Swat in the next couple of days to finalise the deal for the release of the detained engineers, he said, and added that the Taliban had also allowed the Chinese envoy in Pakistan to talk to his countrymen through phone.

"We don't want to kill them but if our demand was not honoured we cannot rule out any eventuality," Muslim said, saying that the Taliban had asked the Chinese government to make sure the release of 118 Taliban who were in the government custody if China wanted to get their men back.