Please
Free th e Korean Hostages
By Dr Naseem Shekhani
St. Louis, MO
I thought you would like to know about this urgent
campaign to free 23 South Korean aid workers,
most of them young women, who have just been taken
hostage by Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban
are threatening to execute them this week, an
action that could trigger a mass evacuation of
life-giving humanitarian aid from all of Afghanistan.
The situation is desperate, but there is hope.
The Taliban are all from the 'Pashtun' ethnic
group, and observe a strict code called Pashtunwali.
This code demands, above all else: "hospitality
to all, especially guests and strangers".
There are rumours of infighting among the Taliban
over these kidnappings, because they clearly violate
the code.
A global outcry for the Taliban to follow their
own code would certainly be covered by media in
Afghanistan and Pakistan where the Taliban are
based creating massive local pressure on them
to free their prisoners. But these hostages are
living under a 24 hour death sentence. We have
seconds not minutes to act. Sign the petition
below and then forward this email:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/honour_the_afghan_code/tf.php
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