AFGHANISTAN - Aug 1 - Bodies Of 4 Kidnapped Afghan Judges Found.

The bodies of four Afghan judges kidnapped 10 days ago are found in a mountainous area of Ghazni Province, south of Kabul, the same province where 21 South Korean hostages are being held by suspected members of the Taliban. The discovery heightened concerns for the fate of the South Koreans, who were kidnapped last week and for whom the latest deadline set by the Taliban expired. Two men from the group have been executed by their kidnappers, who are demanding the release of Taliban prisoners. A spokesman for the Taliban claimed responsibility for the killings. As the deadline expired, the spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, said in a telephone call that a council of Taliban were meeting to discuss their next move. "The government did not meet our demands and now we are waiting for the decision of our leadership council", he said. "Every minute now their lives are at risk". On July 31 he said that some of the 18 women in the group were seriously ill and that the Taliban could not be responsible for their health. The latest threats came after a spokesman for the Afghan government, Homayun Hamidzada, said that the government was doing its utmost to secure their release but was opposed to releasing Taliban prisoners in exchange for the hostages. A government negotiator, Waheedullah Mojadeddi, said the government had been in telephone contact with the Taliban but had failed to have face-to-face talks on Aug 1. Negotiators had asked for a 48-hour extension of the deadline, but had no reply from the Taliban yet. With no headway made after nearly two weeks of talks with the Taliban and the Afghan government, the frustration, anger and hope of South Koreans began turning to Washington - a traditional ally that many here believe owes a favor to Seoul, which sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. On Aug 1, relatives of the hostages made a tearful appeal for US intervention in a visit to the US Embassy in Seoul. Major South Korean political parties agreed to send a delegation of lawmakers to Washington. Speculation in the South Korean news media over possible military action surged after the office of President Roh Moo Hyun warned that it would not just "sit by and watch" if another captive was killed. But the government repeated that it opposed use of military force to end the crisis. It is not clear who kidnapped and killed the Afghan judges, but the murders have the hallmark of Taliban insurgents, who have run a campaign of killings and intimidation in an effort to keep Afghans from joining or cooperating with the government. The judges were abducted in neighboring Paktia Province 10 days ago, the police chief of Ghazni, Ali Shah Ahmadzai, said. "We found the bodies of four judges, shot dead in a mountainous area in Dehak district of Ghazni Province", he said. Afghans have been the main victims of Taliban violence, the New York based organisation, Human Rights Watch, said in a statement that also called for the immediate release of the Koreans. The Taliban have kidnapped at least 41 Afghan civilians and killed at least 23 of them since the beginning of the year, acts which amounted to war crimes, the organization said. Eighteen civilians remain missing. Three foreign hostages - the two South Koreans and a German engineer - have been killed in the last week, it said. A second engineer and four Afghans remain missing in a separate kidnapping in Wardak province.