The Hindu : Front Page : Iraqi captors free hostages

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 02, 2004

Front Page

Iraqi captors free hostages

By Atul Aneja

MANAMA, SEPT. 1. After 41 days in captivity, seven employees — including three Indian truck drivers — of a Kuwait transport company were released by their kidnappers in Iraq today.

"We are very happy. We had promised the families of those abducted that we will do our best to get them back," Rana Abu Zaineh, spokesperson of the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL), said soon after company officials took "custody" of the employees. Apart from the three Indians — Antaryami, Sukhdev Singh and Tilak Raj — three Kenyans and an Egyptian were taken hostage on July 21, after their trucks had strayed into Fallujah.

Diplomatic sources told The Hindu that the hostages were released at 2.30 p.m. local time (4 p.m. IST) in Baghdad and taken first to the Egyptian Embassy, which was the closest to the undisclosed location where they were freed. From there, they were escorted to the residence of the Indian envoy to Iraq, Brij Bhushan Tyagi.

At about 4 p.m. (5.30 p.m. IST), and after speaking to their families as well as the Minister of State for External Affairs, E. Ahamed, over telephone, the three Indians were taken to the Baghdad airport, where a chartered flight arranged by KGL brought them to Kuwait. A decision has been taken to fly the three Indians out of Kuwait tomorrow. (Mr. Ahamed told PTI late tonight in New Delhi that they would board a commercial flight from Kuwait City on Thursday night and reach Delhi on Friday morning.)

Sources said the captives were released in the presence of officials of the Indian Embassy in Baghdad. The negotiations for freeing them had been virtually wrapped up on Monday, but the kidnappers wanted to have two more days before going ahead with the release. The Egyptian hostage, Mohammad Ali Sanad, also told Al-Araybia television that they had been informed on Monday about their impending release.

`Compensation package'

The countdown for the release of the hostages began on August 27. In a video aired by Al-Araybia, the kidnappers belonging to the Black Banners Brigade of the Islamic Secret Army, in a statement had said that they were ready to free their captives, provided KGL made a public declaration that it was ceasing all its operations in Iraq. The next day, the company had complied, after which the next four days were spent on finalising a suitable "compensation package" with the kidnappers. Sources, however, clarified that the Governments of India, Egypt and Kenya were not involved in this exercise as they had taken a collective decision against the payment of ransom.

Recalling the ups and downs of the crisis, the sources said the talks between KGL and the kidnappers were never disrupted despite the setback on August 7, when the previous Iraqi mediator, Sheikh Hisham Al Dulaimi, failed to get the captives released, despite negotiations having been successfully wound up and the "compensation" amount finalised. While Mr. Al Dulaimi was marginalised thereafter, India fully backed KGL. The Kuwaiti firm kept the Indian Embassy and the Kuwaiti Foreign Ministry informed of the developments on the ground.

In Baghdad, India's special envoy, Talmiz Ahmed, and Mr. Tyagi contacted a network of religious and tribal leaders and foreign diplomats of Arab countries who had influence over the Islamic Secret Army.

In parallel, KGL, after opening multiple channels of communication, had forged reliable contacts with the kidnappers through a prominent religious personality in Fallujah.

The negotiations gathered momentum from August 22 onwards, after the kidnappers showed a video to the KGL's representatives that all the hostages were safe.

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