South Korean officials have twice blocked rescue missions to free 21 of their countrymen held by Taleban rebels amid concerns that Afghan military action could spark a bloodbath.

On one occasion Afghan and US troops were mobilised and ready to storm the Taleban positions. Separately, Afghan secret police were ready to arrest the families of the Taleban commanders involved as a way of applying pressure. But Korean officials vetoed the plans over fears that they would cause more bloodshed.

It has also emerged that the driver of the bus transporting the evangelical Christians is suspected of tipping off the Taleban about their route and that negotiations with Afghan officials have been hampered by divisions among Taleban commanders. The bus driver has been arrested.

The Taleban said yesterday that they would release two women today, who are said to be suffering ill-health. But they failed to deliver on a similar promise yesterday.The Times, the first British newspaper to visit Ghazni since the group was taken hostage on July 19, has learnt of the behind-the-scenes planning to end the stand-off.

“The reason we have not launched a military operation is the Koreans repeatedly requested we don’t. They are sure they will solve this by talking face to face,” Ustad Merajuddin Pathan, the Governor of Ghazni province, said. Two men from the original group of 23 have already been killed by their captors.

Abdul Rahim, head of the highway police in the Qarabagh district, where the Koreans were abducted, said: “The governor [wanted] to launch a military operation but the Koreans refused.”

A senior intelligence source said: “We know who the Taleban commanders are and we wanted to arrest their families but the Koreans wouldn’t let us.”

For the past three days South Korean officials have been engaged in frantic negotiations with two Taleban commanders in the Red Crescent building in Ghazni, a small city 140km (90 miles) from Kabul. The negotiations took place after the Afghan Government agreed to give safe passage to Mullah Nasratullah and Mullah Qari Bashir, the Taleban leaders. The meetings have led to no new developments.

Late yesterday the Taleban claimed to have released two women hostages, although these reports turned out to be false. “It is not true that any hostages have been released” Mr Pathan said yesterday. He also claimed that Afghan forces knew the exact location of the hostages and the names of the commanders holding them. “They are being held in Qarabagh district of Ghazni, in the village of Malang Khali,” Mr Pathan said. “We know the men holding them.”

According to Mr Rahim, the South Koreans were being held by three different commanders. He said: “The commanders all have different opinions – some want money and some want prisoners released. It makes negotiations very difficult.”

As President Musharraf of Pakistan addressed a 700-strong peace meeting in Kabul, pledging to end terror, officials in Ghazni blamed his Government for the kidnapping. “Mullah Nasratullah [one of the Taleban negotiators] is a member of ISI [the Pakistani intelligence agency]. He is posing as a mullah,” Mr Pathan said.

Afghanistan has long accused Pakistan of meddling in its affairs, which Pakistan strongly denies.

Afghan officials in Ghazni have little sympathy for the hostages. Many believe that they were in Afghanistan to preach Christianity.There was also incredulity that they were travelling from Kabul to Kandahar, one of the most dangerous roads in the country, without informing the police.

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