Sarkozy’s hostage diplomacy

One of Nicolas Sarkozy's most immediate foreign policy challenges will be responding to the seizure of two French aid workers in Afghanistan. The Taliban abducted the workers in early March, but the Taliban has quite thoughtfully given France a chance to hold its election and appoint a new government before it must respond. Said a Taliban spokesman:

We will wait for a while after the election of the president. He will be busy with internal issues of his government but he will also pay attention to foreign issues."

Once the grace period expires, however, the Taliban has demanded that France provide a timetable for leaving Afghanistan, and Sarkozy made some worrying noises about withdrawal during the campaign.

Sarkozy may now want to consult the primer the Italians helpfully provided on how not to respond to the Taliban. in March, the Italian government pressured Afghanistan to release five Taliban prisoners in order to spring a captured Italian journalist. The move outraged NATO allies and the Afghan population (in large because the captive's Afghan interpreter was subsequently beheaded). It's hard to imagine Sarkozy now going down the path of negotiations.