KABUL - A Taleban deadline for demands to be met to secure the release of a French aid worker and three locals kidnapped by the extremist group in Afghanistan is due to expire Saturday. ‘The deadline is drawing closer every moment,’ Taleban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP Friday. ‘The French government and the Afghan government not only have not accepted our demands, but they even have not tried to contact us.’The extremist group is demanding the withdrawal of French troops or the release of Taleban prisoners in exchange for Terre d’Enfance (A World For Our Children) volunteer Eric Damfreville, and three Afghans working with him. A council of elders would decide on the fate of the four kidnapped colleagues, who were captured a month ago, if the demands were not met, Ahmadi said.
Asked if the abductees could be killed, Ahmadi said the group’s policy was ‘clear.’ ‘The policy of the Taleban movement regarding the foreign hostages is clear: if our demands are not met, we will act based on our policy that we have implemented with foreigners so far.’