KABUL - Kabul again ruled out any hostage swap to free two French aid workers held by the rebels, who have threatened to behead them and send their heads to Paris.On Saturday, the insurgents released a brief black-and-white video of the two French aid workers -- a woman who calls herself only Celine and a man who calls himself Eric -- pleading for help from the French government. In the tearful video, filmed on Friday, they said in English they would be beheaded and their heads sent home to France if Paris ignored the TalebanÂ’s demands.
But the Taleban have issued no public ransom demand for their release. However, Italian Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who was kidnapped in Helmand last month, was freed after two weeks when Kabul released five senior Taleban prisoners. His Afghan driver and translator were beheaded.
Afghan Foreign Minister Rangeen Dadfar Spanta on Sunday repeated President Hamid Karzai’s pledge there would be no more hostage swaps. ‘We will avoid the exchange of hostages with the criminals,’ Spanta told reporters. ‘If we do it once or twice, it will become a procedure. It won’t have an end.’
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Karzai’s palace said on Saturday French President Jacques Chirac had phoned the Afghan leader to ask for help. ‘President Hamid Karzai assured President Chirac that the relevant Afghan institutions will spare no effort in securing the release of the kidnapped French nationals and their Afghan colleagues,’ the palace said in a statement.