AFGHANISTAN: An Afghan militant group threatening three kidnapped foreigners said it was involved in negotiations through a mediator but denied extending tomorrow's deadline to kill them.
A defence ministry spokesman earlier said the group had delayed its deadline until Friday, but a spokesman for the kidnappers called the report "a lie" and said the hostages had been split up to thwart any rescue attempt.
"We have separated the three hostages and are keeping them far from each other so that in case one is discovered by the authorities we have the chance to kill the other two," spokesman Mullah Ishaq Manzoor said.
The two women and a man were snatched from a busy street in the capital, Kabul, on Thursday by the Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), which threatened to kill them by noon tomorrow unless the US released all its Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners.
"I get the impression that there is confusion among the kidnappers which is why we can't take their deadline seriously," defence ministry spokesman General Zahir Azimisaid said earlier.
"We are optimistic that the hostages will be released," General Zahir Azimi, another Defence Ministry spokesman, said, declining to elaborate for fear of jeopardising the investigation.
The government has previously negotiated the release of several foreign nationals kidnapped by Taliban fugitives, apparently in return for ransom.
The militant group, which had said some members of the government had helped in the kidnapping, said it was negotiating through a "tajir" - an influential trader with a good network of contacts.
Authorities said they were investigating whether some government figures helped the group to carry out the abductions.
"The defence ministry is of the belief that without internal co-operation this work may have not been possible," Gen Azimi said.
The foreigners - Filipino Angelito Nayan, Annetta Flanigan from Co Armagh and Shqipe Hebibi from Kosovo - were snatched from their UN vehicle in rush hour traffic.
They had been helping to organise Afghanistan's first presidential election, which was held on October 9th.
The abductions have stoked fears among the 2,000-strong foreign community that militants in Afghanistan may be copying tactics used by insurgents in Iraq, where dozens of foreigners have been brutally beheaded and their executions video-taped.
Seven Afghan suspects have been arrested in Kabul as a result of the investigation, but Gen Azimi declined to give details. Other security sources said those arrested were not considered prime suspects.
The leader of the kidnap group, Mullah Sayed Mohammad Akbar Agha, said that if the group's demands were not met, the hostages would be killed "in such a way by which Muslims will be happy".
The group has also demanded the United Nations quit Afghanistan.