BAGHDAD, 23 July 2004 — Seven foreign truck drivers kidnapped in Iraq and threatened with execution yesterday made desperate appeals for their lives to be spared. India and Kenya, six of whose nationals are among the hostages, appealed to the kidnappers to free them and called on friendly countries to help. Kenya also asked all its nationals to leave Iraq immediately.
In a videotape, one of the hostages was seen saying, “We want to go home, please help us so that we are not cut up into pieces because then you would bear the guilt of orphaning our children.” The video showed seven hostages — three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian.
The rebels have threatened to behead one hostage every 72 hours if their Kuwaiti employer does not leave the country.
“We work for KGL and we were captured in, yes... we were arrested... please release us, and I swear to God that aiding the Americans is wrong,” said the man hesitantly, speaking in Arabic with an Egyptian accent.
“We want to go back home, we entered Kuwait in an illegal way, I swear to God,” he said in the recording.
“Let the Egyptians know that I came (to Kuwait) on a three-month visa and they forced us to work with the Americans and the Jews,” said the man, begging to be allowed to go home to his mother and brothers. The Egyptian then stopped and told a colleague standing next to him to speak, but he was commanded by an unidentified voice to continue.
“The sheikhs and the powerful bosses took us and left our trailers in one place,” he said, describing the abduction. “They led us to another place, where they are feeding us and providing us with water while they decide whether we are guilty.”
The man, wiping heavy sweat from his face, vowed never to enter Iraq or Kuwait again or to work for the US forces.
The hostages identified themselves as Fayez Khamis, Ibrahim Khamis and Jalal Mohammed (all from Kenya); Antaryami, Tilakraj and Udayam Singh (India); and Egyptian Mohammed Ali Al-Masri.
Their employer, Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport, said it would “do all it can to save the lives of these seven drivers and obtain their return.”
“We will never abandon them,” said a KGL official, who requested anonymity, without stating whether the abductors had made contact with the company.
Media reports said Kuwait’s foreign minister was consulting with authorities in India, Kenya and Egypt. Foreign Minister Mohamed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah was quoted as saying: “Once the hostage-taking was confirmed, Kuwait began consultations with the three countries from which the (captive) truck drivers originated.” Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh made an appeal over Arab television stations, including Al-Jazeera, saying that the captives should be freed “since India has no soldiers in Iraq.”
Iraqi police yesterday said the head and body of a decapitated Westerner were found in northern Iraq. They said the body was found near the town of Baiji.
In Sofia, Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry said another decapitated body found last week in Iraq has been identified as that of Georgi Lazov, a Bulgarian truck driver who was captured and held hostage.
In continued violence, US Marines killed 25 insurgents and captured 25 others in fierce fighting on Wednesday in Ramadi, the military said. The fighting also wounded 17 Iraqis and 14 US servicemen, but none of the injuries to the Marines were life-threatening. Ten of the wounded subsequently returned to duty, the Marines said.
— Additional input from agencies
