The Hindu : Front Page : Three Indians among six taken hostage in Iraq

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 22, 2004

Front Page

Front Page

Three Indians among six taken hostage in Iraq

By Atul Aneja

FACING THREAT: The six hostages with their captors at an undisclosed location in Iraq in this picture handed to the Associated Press on Wednesday.

MANAMA, JULY 21. Three Indians are among six persons taken hostage by a militant group in Iraq. The captors have announced that the hostages will be beheaded unless their governments declare that all their citizens will be withdrawn from Iraq.

The Indians who have been abducted are Antaryami, Tilak Raj, and Sukhdev Singh. They apparently worked for a Kuwait-based transportation company involved in ferrying supplies to United States forces in Iraq. The others kidnapped are two Kenyans and an Egyptian.

When contacted by The Hindu , a spokesman for the Indian embassy in Baghdad said that the mission had received instructions from New Delhi on how to tackle the crisis, but did not give further details. The Indian Ambassador to Iraq, B.B. Tyagi, could not be contacted as he was already in India.

The militant group, which calls itself "The Holders of the Black Banners," said in a statement that it would behead a hostage every 72 hours unless the governments to which they belonged withdrew their citizens from Iraq and the companies they worked for closed their branches. The deadline started at 8 p.m. (10.30 p.m IST) today, it said. It also aired its threat in a videotape broadcast by the Dubai based Al-Arabiya television.

"We have warned all the countries, companies, businessmen and truck drivers that those who deal with American cowboy occupiers will be targeted by the fires of the Mujahedeen," the statement said. "Here you are once again transporting, goods, weapons and military equipment that backs the U.S. Army." Analysts point out that Iraqi guerillas are now focusing on weakening the structure that supports the U.S. occupation of Iraq, and is also seeking to discourage foreign investment in the country.

None of those countries whose citizens are kidnapped is part of the 160,000-member U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq.

The kidnapping follows the release of Filipino hostage Angelo de la Cruz after Manila abided by his captors' demands and withdrew its 51-member force from Iraq.

An Egyptian driver of a Saudi Arabian company has also been released after the firm announced that it was withdrawing from Iraq.

More than 60 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq in recent months.

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