Berlin and Washington rejected an offer by the Taliban...

Berlin and Washington rejected an offer by the Taliban militia to release aid workers [Georg Taubmann, Silke Duerrkopf, Margrit Stebner and Kati Jelinek] in return for a withdrawal of military threats on Afghanistan [following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the US], demanding they be freed with no conditions attached.
The four Shelter Now International aid workers, together with two Americans and two Australians, face the death sentence or long prison terms if found guilty of preaching Christianity under the Taliban's fundamentalist interpretation of Islamic, or sharia, law. The workers have denied the charges.