Kandahar: Taliban militants in Afghanistan said today that a German hostage they have held for nearly a week was very sick and drifting in and out of consciousness. "The German is very badly sick. He has got diabetes," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi said. "Most of the time he's unconscious and we have to carry him on a stretcher from one place to another," Ahmadi added.

The Taliban have previously demanded the freedom of 10 of their jailed comrades in return for the release of the German citizen and have threatened to kill him otherwise. They have also demanded the German pull out from Afghanistan. The body of a second German kidnapped at the same time was found dumped on a road on Sunday. The cause of death is not yet clear.

Ahmadi said a deadline for the sick German hostage had yet to be decided by Taliban commanders. The militants have also set a deadline of 1430 GMT (20:00 hrs IST) today for 23 South Korean hostages, saying they will kill the group unless 23 rebels are freed from government jails.