No Deal On Korean Hostages - Bush

US President George W Bush and Afghan leader Hamid Karzai have agreed not to bargain with the Taleban over South Korean hostages, the White House said.

A US presidential spokesman said there would be no "quid pro quo" over the 21 captives, after a news conference near Washington between the two leaders.

Two South Koreans from the abducted group have been killed by the Taleban, who demand a prisoner swap.

The Korean hostages were seized on 19 July from a bus in Ghazni province.

Following talks at Camp David, Maryland, White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said: "Both leaders agreed that in negotiations for the release, there should be no quid pro quo for the hostages.

"The Taleban are brutal and should not be emboldened by this."

I actually agree that you do not negotiate with people like the Taliban but Bush needs to ask himself what part diverting troops from Afghanistan played in this hostage crisis.

Had we kept the troops in Afghanistan there is a good chance that the Taliban would have been completely crushed by now. There is also the likelihood that we would have caught Osama Bin laden. What we are left with is two countries in disarray where violence is a daily occurrence and daily life a living hell.

It is this disarray and violence that threatens to spread to Pakistan and create a catastrophe that would stun the world.