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New hope of hostages’ early release |
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Abductors drop demands
Hopes of an early release of the three Indian and four other hostages in the hands of Iraqi abductors, have been raised after their kidnappers dropped all but one demand for their release. They are now insisting that their employer, the Kuwait Gulf Link Transport Company [KGL] stop its operations in Iraq and withdraw its employees and the fleet of trucks engaged in ferrying supplies to US troops from Kuwait. The company has said it is ready to comply.
In a video footage on the al-Arabiya television channel on August 26, the militant group, the Holders of the Black Banners, dropped nearly all its demands and said they will release the men in response to an appeal from India’s ambassador in Baghdad. But the seven truck drivers will be released only after their Kuwaiti company announces it is dropping business in Iraq and will withdraw all its employees. The video showed the seven men sitting on the ground while a voice off screen read out the offer in a statement. Those abducted include three Indians, three Kenyans and one Egyptian. They were abducted on July 21 and threatened with beheading if their company did not leave Iraq and their countries did not withdraw all their citizens. The group later added new demands, calling for reparations for the people of the Iraqi city of Fallujah and the release of all Iraqi prisoners held in Kuwait and the US.
The Government of India has welcomed the statement. Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahemad, who also heads the Crisis Management Group, said: “We hope everything will move in a positive direction”.
The spokesperson of the Kuwaiti transport company, KGL, has welcomed the development and said it was ready to pack up its operations in Iraq for the sake of the release of the seven hostages. Bowing to the demand of the kidnappers, a company statement said on August 27, said, it has agreed to halt operations in the troubled city. The statement said the Kuwait Gulf and Link welcomes the statement by the group on its willingness to release the seven drivers. And so the company has agreed to stop its operations in Iraq and would like to say it has no presence currently in Iraq.
KGL is, however, exercising extreme caution given the last-minute setback on two earlier occasions.
The recent developments came after a two-week full in negotiations. Diplomatic sources say that despite the setback on August 7 when a deal to free the hostages could not be clinched at the last moment contacts with the kidnappers did not rupture. However, channels of communications were realigned and the previous mediator, Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi, was no longer the public face during the new round of talks. Negotiations with a new mediator who, the sources identified as a prominent religious figure in Fallujah, however, gathered momentum after August 22, KGL sources said. One of the reasons for the talks making headway was that the kidnappers had provided fresh evidence of the well-being of the hostages, encouraging the company to pursue the dialogue. New Delhi’s announcement that it would not hold direct talks with the kidnappers also strengthened KGL’s position during talks.
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