Afghan militants repeated a threat to kill three U.N. hostages and rejected government talk of a ransom offer on Monday, saying they were sticking to their demand for the release of Taliban prisoners.
Akbar Agha, head of the Jaish-e Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), said it would make no further effort to contact the government or the United Nations (news – web sites) for talks after 11 p.m. (1:30 p.m. EST) on Monday. “But if we receive any invitation from the U.N. representatives or Afghan government to talk on the issue, we may consider it,” he told Reuters. Full Story
