The Hindu : Front Page : Government moves to get hostages released

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 23, 2004

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Government moves to get hostages released

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, JULY 22. The Government today stepped up efforts to secure the release of the three Indians taken hostage by a militant group in Iraq on Wednesday even as the United States Embassy in Delhi said it was in touch with its mission in Baghdad to facilitate contact between the Indian Government, the Iraqi Government and the multinational force positioned there.

With Parliament in session, the Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahamad, was reluctant to divulge details of the hostage-related developments to the media. "I will make a statement in Parliament tomorrow," he said adding that all possible steps would be taken to "secure the early release of our nationals."

A control room has been set up at the Ministry for monitoring the situation. The Indian Ambassador to Iraq, Brij Tyagi — who was in the Capital — has since left for Baghdad.

Besides the diplomatic channels, the Government is said to be getting in touch with various agencies to establish contact with the group that has abducted the three Indians along with three others.

And, again the message being sent across is that India has always maintained that the sovereign power of the people of Iraq should be respected.

The Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has asked the Home Ministry to get details of the family members of the three hostages to enable the Government to remain in touch with them through the crisis. Sources said the Prime Minister's directive was conveyed to officials in the Home Ministry by the Prime Minister's Office. The External Affairs Ministry had apparently contacted the families by evening.

Two of the hostages, Antaryami, 33, and Tilak Raj, hail from Himachal Pradesh while Sukhdev Singh, 26, is from Punjab. Sukhdev and Antaryami joined the Kuwait-based Universal Transport Company less than a year ago with the former taking up the job in April this year.

CPI (M) demand

In a related statement, the Polit Bureau of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said the Government should immediately ensure the safety of the hostages by announcing that Indian citizens would not engage in such activities in Iraq. "Such a decision will be in conformity with the stand taken earlier by the Government not to allow Indians to be hired by private security agencies for work in Iraq," the Polit Bureau noted while demanding that all efforts be made by the Government for the release of the hostages.

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