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| Sunday, 22 August 2004 |
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Nepal seeks to confirm 12 nationals seized in Iraq KATHMANDU, Saturday (Reuters) Nepal is trying to confirm reports that 12 of its nationals had been kidnapped by an Islamist group in Iraq, a foreign ministry official said on Saturday. The 12 men were seized on Aug. 19-20 because of their cooperation with U.S. forces in Iraq, according to a statement issued on the Internet on Friday purportedly by the Army of the Ansar al-Sunna. The authenticity of the statement could not be verified. "We are trying to find out details about that. I have no information now," Foreign Ministry official Durga Prasad Bhattarai told Reuters. Nepal has banned its nationals from travelling to or working in Iraq but many Nepalis are known to have gone there from elsewhere in the Middle East. The statement said the Nepalese firm was operating in Iraq through a Jordanian company, but gave no further details. "We shall show their pictures soon so that they will be a lesson to others," said the statement, posted on a Web site often used in recent months by groups fighting U.S.-led forces in Iraq. The crisis is the latest to hit Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world. Maoist rebels fighting to replace Nepal's constitutional monarchy have blockaded the capital, Kathmandu, cutting of the city by land since Wednesday. Militants in Iraq have waged a campaign of kidnapping aimed at driving out individuals, companies and troops supporting U.S. forces and the new Iraqi interim administration. Scores of hostages have been taken. Some have been released but at least nine have been killed. Three truck drivers from India, Nepal's giant southern neighbour, have been held captive for the last one month by another Islamic militant group, as efforts to secure their release make slow progress. |
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