Two Taliban negotiators said on Saturday they were ”optimistic” about talks to release their 21 South Korean hostages but insisted that some jailed rebels must be freed first. The Afghan government has consistently rejected the demand since the group of Christian aid workers was captured in the southern province of Ghazni more than three weeks ago.
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/ 21 September 2005
Botswana is embroiled in a new controversy over the fate of its San Bushmen after the government decided to close down part of the Kalahari game reserve, prompting clashes. British-based Survival International last month accused the government of shutting down the reserve as part of a stepped-up campaign ”to remove the Bushmen and end their way of life”.
A San Bushman who defied a state order to move out of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve told the Botswana High Court on Tuesday that the land had been given to him by God. The court is hearing a case brought by 243 San Bushmen challenging their relocation from the game reserve.
Botswana launched a stinging attack on Tuesday on the human rights group supporting San Bushmen in a land claim in the desert Southern African country, calling it a "fund-raising gimmick". Judges continued inspections in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve,where the Bushmen lived before they were evicted in 1997.
<li><a class=’standardtextsmall’ href="http://www.mg.co.za/Content/l3.asp?ao=118200">Bushmen land claim ‘nonsense'</a>