One Egyptian hostage released in Iraq
28/9/2004 11:05
One of the six Egyptian hostages held in Iraq was released overnight on
Tuesday, a source close to the Egyptian charge d'affaires in Baghdad told
Xinhua.
Engineer Alaa Maqar was released shortly after 12 p.m. (2000 GMT
Monday) and was now in the headquarters of the Egyptian holding Orascom telecom
company in Iraq, said the source who refused to be identified.
There was no
information about the other Egyptians held by the kidnappers, he added.
Maqar
was among the six Orascom employees who were abducted along with two Iraqis by
gunmen on Wednesday and Thursday.
No group claimed responsibility and it was
reported that Orascom offered a ransom.
Egypt's official MENA news agency
said the two Iraqis had also been released, and the other five Egyptian hostages
were set to be freed, without specifying when.
The Egyptian government has
been following up closely the hostage crisis in Iraq and made intensive efforts
to secure the release of the kidnapped nationals.
On Sunday, Farouq Mabrouk,
the top Egyptian diplomat in Iraq, held talks with the head of the Muslim
Scholars Association, an influential religious body that has been involved in
mediation efforts in releasing a number of kidnapped foreigners.
The
Cairo-based Arab League also appealed to the abductors on Sunday to release the
six Egyptians with no condition.
With the security situation deteriorating in
Iraq, at least 26 foreign hostages have been killed by their kidnappers this
year, while the rest were released after demands were met or ransoms were
paid.
Some Iraqis, such as contractors and engineers, who were considered by
the insurgents as US collaborators, were also abduction targets.
Xinhua
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