KABUL, July 29, SPA _ Afghan officials reported noprogress in talks with tribal elders to secure the releaseof 22 South Korean hostages held by the Taliban, as a South Korean envoy met with the Afghan president to discuss the matter Sunday. A purported Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousef Ahmadi, said the militant group had given a list of 23 insurgentprisoners it wants released in exchange for the hostagesand was now waiting for the government to act. «The government had told us they need time to negotiate and soon they will release the prisoners,» Ahmadi said. He said the Taliban has stated their demands and no longer needs to negotiate but still has open channels with the government. Two days of meetings between elders of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province, where the South Korean hostages were kidnapped on July 19, and a delegation of senior officials from Kabul, yielded no results so far, said Shirin Mangal, spokesman for the Ghazni provincial governor. «So far there is no progress from the meetings,» Mangal said. The meeting is being held behind closed doors, and Mangal did not divulge any details, the Associated Press reported.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/471174