Taleban prisoners

South Korean officials say they have made contact with at least one of the 21 Korean hostages kidnapped last month by Taleban insurgents in Afghanistan.

A South Korean official in Seoul, who refuses to be identified, says the Taleban allowed one of the hostages to speak by telephone to diplomats at South Korea's embassy in Kabul on Saturday.

The official in Seoul says Monday, that no further details of the contact are being released. However, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported later that a self-styled Taleban commander said three female hostages, speaking in Korean, took part in the conversation.

A purported Taleban spokesman says Afghan President Hamid Karzai and U.S. President Bush will be responsible if anything bad happens to the hostages. The two leaders are meeting in Washington. The Taleban wants Kabul to release some Taleban prisoners in exchange for the South Koreans, but Afghanistan has refused to take part in such a trade.