PESHAWAR, Aug 26: The Korea Muslim Federation (KMF) here on Sunday requested the Taliban to release the 19 Koreans taken hostage in Afghanistan.
A four-member delegation of the federation on visit to Peshawar told journalists that the Muslim community in Seoul was facing problems after the hostage taking.
“Ramazan is approaching and we request the Taliban to release the hostages immediately and prove to the world that Muslims do not believe in violence,” said Suleman Lee Haeng, the Imam of the Seoul central mosque. The delegation also includes KMF director Abdul Rahman Lee, its member Zaki Jeong and a Pakistani businessman in Korea, Zulfiqar Ali Khan.
“About 15 policemen have been posted at the central mosque in Seoul round the clock due to some minor incidents when someone hurled stones into the mosque,” said Mr Rahman. He said some people used bad language against the Muslims there. Although, such people were few in number, still it affected the day to day life of Muslims there, he said.
The delegation met Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam (Sami) chief Maulana Samiul Haq at his seminary in Akora Khattak.
It members said Maulana Haq had assured them that he would request the Taliban for the release of the hostages. They said would also meet other religious figures in Peshawar.“There are about 35,000 Muslims in Korea and before this incident we had been preaching Islam in a very effective manner,” said Mr Khan, a native of Peshawar who settled in Korea about 10 years ago. “While my family or other Muslims, especially non-Koreans, travel in public transport or roam around, people look at them with suspicion and some of them even say that Muslims are killers,” he added.
The South Koreans were kidnapped on July 19 on the Kabul-Kandahar highway.
Mr Suleman said: “Being representatives of the Muslim community in Korea, we initiated this visit to plead the case of our people and request our Taliban brothers that these hostages are innocent and they should be released for the sake of humanity.”The visitors said they had been advised in Korea not to visit Peshawar because of security reasons but they had preferred to reach here and put forward their request to the Taliban.
Mr Zaki also showed some pictures of the mosque where police had been deputed and some roads of Seoul where banners had been hoisted requesting Taliban to release the hostages.
