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Iraq : Three Indian hostages, four others released?

	August 02, 2004

India on Sunday night said it had no confirmation about reports of release of three of its nationals kidnapped by a militant group in Iraq attributed to Kenyan Foreign Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere but hoped that the hostages would be freed.

”I wish to convey that as of now we have no confirmation of their release. Neither our embassy in Baghdad nor our embassy in Kuwait have been able to confirm this,” Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told reporters in New Delhi.

The Crisis Management Group (CMG) headed by E Ahamed held two extensive rounds of meeting to take stock of the situation.

News agency AFP quoting the Mwakwere from Nairobi said “we have received information that all the hostages, including three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian, were released between 30 minutes and an hour ago.”

”They are in safe hands now, and a senior Kenyan Foreign Ministry official, Yusuf Nzibo, is in Kuwait awaiting their arrival there and receive them,” he was quoted as saying.

An AP report from Nairobi quoting Kenyan Government spokesman Alfred Motua said the hostages have been taken to the Egyptian Embassy in Baghdad and the three Kenyans are in good health.

However, Iraqi tribal mediator Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi said in Baghdad that he could not confirm the reports of the release of the hostages who included the three Indians, Antaryami, Tilak Raj and Sukhdeo Singh. “I know nothing about it. This is all news to me,” he said.

The hostages, working for a Kuwaiti haulage firm, were snatched 11 days ago by the previously unknown Islamic Secret Army - Holders of the Black Banners group.

”So far there have been no positive results. The Kuwaiti company is not responding to us. They have agreed to pull out of Iraq but they are still arguing about the compensation,” he said, referring to the kidnappers’ demands.

The Kuwaiti firm which employs the seven truckers said they were still being held hostage. “They have not been released ... We are still negotiating,” said Rana Abu Zaneih, a spokeswoman for the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company.

The tribal leader said he had withdrawn from efforts to free the hostages.

“I am withdrawing because I have reached no agreement with the (men’s employer) Kuwaitis,” Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi said.

Dulaimi said he had received a letter signed by the commander of the Islamic Secret Army saying that if the negotiations had not been successful by 6:00 pm (1930 hrs IST), he should withdraw from the talks. The communique said the kidnappers would then take the “appropriate measures with regard to the hostages,” Dulaimi said.

New Delhi had a temporary sigh of relief when the kidnappers of three Indian hostages, the Holders of Black Banner, extended the deadline to execute them by 24 hours on July 30. However, in spite the extension of this deadline which has since expired, there is no word about the success of the negotiations for the release of the seven hostages, four of whom are Egyptians and Kenyans. A statement by the kidnappers said on July 30, the deadline to kill one of the seven hostages is being extended by 24 hours [till 8.30 PM Indian standard Time] 30, to give “a last chance to the company and the countries concerned to save their employees and their nationals.”

The Manmohan Singh Government made every effort to secure their release. It became greatly concerned after a different group of abductors executed two Pakistani hostages. The Foreign office maintained that the three Indians were safe and unharmed. A Crisis Management Group has set up in the Foreign Office which was directly in touch with the Embassies in Kuwait and Baghdad as well as other sources in Iraq. The External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh asked India’s ambassador to Oman, Talmiz Ahmed, to proceed to Baghdad to coordinate the negotiations that were going on between Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi and the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company [KGL], employer of the abducted drivers. The kidnappers appointed a senior tribal leader, Sheikh al-Dulaimi, to mediate their release. He was in touch with both the kidnappers and the Kuwaiti transport company, KGL, conveying their demands for the release, the main one of which was said to be ransom and for the Kuwaiti transport company to cease their operations in Iraq. In a statement on al-Arabiya TV channel, al-Dulaimi pleaded with the abductors to leave room for further negotiations and not to carry out their threat.

The KGL authorized one of their officials, Mehdi Saleh to negotiate on its behalf with al-Dulaimi. Sheikh al-Dulaimi called on the kidnappers “to be patient and to give me a chance to reach an outcome that will serve both sides.” He said on July 30 that the kidnappers’ main demand was compensation for the people in Fallujah, a city west of Baghdad where he also lived. He said, compensation was legitimate as the kidnappers were asking for this money for the sake of children and women. He said the Kuwaiti transport firm, employer of all the seven hostages, was ready to meet the kidnappers’ demands. He said the KGL was ready to compensate victims of US military action in Fallujah and pull out of Iraq to spare its employees’ lives.

New Delhi wanted to avoid a crisis of the scale of what took place in Kandahar in 1999. Thus, it wanted to keep dealing with the kidnappers through KGL and Dulaimi as a direct dialogue have encouraged the abductors to rise their demands.

A copy of the appeal made by the Government of India not to harm the hostages was forwarded to Sheikh Dulaimi who was apparently miffed that the Indian Embassy in Baghdad had not taken the trouble to remain in touch with him. The Black Banner, the group which abducted the seven persons, is understood to have conveyed through Sheikh Dulaimi that it was willing to consider further extension of the deadline provided the Indian Embassy in Baghdad posted a clear message on local Arabic television channels that no Indian national would work for Kuwaiti firms. The Kuwaiti company made an offer to the abductors, said to be in term of cash, but the hostages were also demanding that it stop its operations in Iraq. The kidnappers also took strong exception to a statement by the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, that there was every chance of the hostages being freed because all that the hostage were also demanding that it stop its operations in Iraq. The kidnappers also took strong exception to a statement by the External Affairs Minister, Natwar Singh, that there was every chance of the hostages being freed because all that the hostage takers had been demanding was money. Appearing on the Arabic satellite television channel, al-Jazeera on July 26, a masked member of the Black Banners Brigade warned the Indian Government against making any irresponsible comments about insurgents in Iraq. He repeated the demand for withdrawal of the Kuwaiti company from Iraq for cooperating with the occupiers. In another cryptic warning to the Indian Government, the Black Banner militants said, it should “not attack Islamic religious leaders”.

The Minister of State for External Affairs Minister, E. Ahmed, who heads the Crisis Management Group, issued an appeal in Arabic and English telling the kidnappers that he had “absolute faith in the Almighty Allah to give Hidayath [directions] to the group who keep our people as hostages to release them.” In an emotional appeal in Arabic and English broadcast over Iraqi TV channels, al-Arabiya network and the television stations in Kuwait and Oman on July 25, E. Ahmed drew attention of the kidnappers to closer and historical relations between the two countries. He cited the teachings of Islam to say that the kidnapping of the innocent was against the religion. He said he had a hope that the Almighty Allah will instruct them to free the hostages. “There is no justification for anybody to keep innocent persons in captivity. Islam teaches everybody to be just and fair and the people of India expect that captors will also honour the Islamic way of thinking towards the innocent”, he said.

Public pressure was growing on the Government to secure the release of the three Indian drivers , Tilak Raj, Antaryami and Sukhdev Singh. A mob, protesting against the failure of the Government to get the three Indians released, attempted to take 37 foreigner tourists hostage on July 30. A big mob in Una, Himachal Pradesh, home to Antaryami, had blocked the traffic in the past 12 hours. As a bus full of foreign tourists consisting of those from America, Korea, Switzerland, Japan Tibet and the Netherlands, returning from Dharamsala, was sighted, it was surrounded by an angry mob and road blocks set up to stop it from moving further. They were saved following the intervention of local elders and housed in a police building. Thousands of vehicles were stranded between Mehatpur and Una. The Chief Minister accused the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the BJP of trying to draw political mileage by exploiting the sentiments of the families of hostages.

In the meanwhile, the Government has decided to declare Iraq out of bounds for Indian citizens. Passports of all Gulf-bound passengers will henceforth be stamped “not valid for Iraq” and the advisory urging Indians not to visit Iraq will be enforced. The CPI[M] has told the Government to change its Iraq policy by stating in no uncertain terms that India has nothing to do with occupation forces.

There are an estimated 5000 Indians in Iraq, of which 4000 are technicians, drivers, cooks, kitchen helpers and the rest are managers. Truckers earn anywhere between $1700 [about Rs. 78,200] and $450 [Rs. 20,700] a month. They come from all over India, Punjab, Haryana, HP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala. But, the economies of terror and of work are not separate any more.