A woman wearing a chador holds a candle during a protest demanding negotiations between the U.S. government and the Taliban for the safe return of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan, near the U.S. embassy in Seoul, August 2, 2007. The South Korean government is under intense pressure to bring the captives home but concedes it has few cards to play. The United States has said it does not make concessions to terrorists but lawmakers are hoping Washington might make an exception to help bail out an ally which has sent troops to Afghanistan and Iraq. The placard reads: "Oppose the military operation which will cause a massacre of all of the South Korean hostages". (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
"All pressures need to be applied to the Taliban to get them to release these hostages," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard Boucher said.
He said the United States will have cooperation with Afghanistan and South Korea "to get these people released unharmed, to get them released peacefully and safely."
Boucher declined to elaborate on what pressures or efforts were being used or considered but said they included the option of military force.
Boucher made the remarks ahead of a weekend visit by Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who will meet with U.S. President George W. Bush at Camp David.
The coming U.S.-Afghan summit is expected to discuss some issues of mutual interests including the war on terror, counter narcotics and the U.S. contribution towards rebuilding of the post-Taliban Afghanistan.
Taliban militants abducted 23 South Koreans on July 19, and have shot dead two of them so far. They threatened to execute the remaining if the Afghan government fails to meet their demand which includes the release of their eight Taliban comrades.
