Hostages freed amid threats

2004-06-12 18:10

Ankara, Turkey - Seven Turkish contractors taken hostage in Iraq were released by their kidnappers, their company said on Saturday. But kidnappers holding an Egyptian and another Turk warned the captives would be executed unless the Turkish and Egyptian people protested against the US occupation of Iraq.

News of the Turks' release came as Foreign Ministry officials in Lebanon confirmed that Iraqi gunmen kidnapped three Lebanese in Iraq and killed one of them. Another was released and the third remained in captivity, a Foreign Ministry official said on condition of anonymity.

The seven Turkish men were released in Fallujah and were travelling to the northern city of Mosul, Serdar Adali, a director of the Turkish construction company Serka Limited, told CNN-Turk television by telephone.

"Seven people are free at the moment," Adali said. He said all seven were well and would speak to their families as soon as they reached Mosul, where the company had an office.

Postponed killing

The Dubai-based satellite network Al-Arabiya said a group holding two truck drivers - Victor Tawfiq Jerges from Egypt and Bulent Yanik from Turkey - issued a videotape saying they had postponed killing the two and called on Turks and Egyptians to hold demonstrations to denounce the US presence in Iraq.

On Thursday, the group sent a statement to Al-Arabiya, threatening to kill the two hostages by noon on Saturday. The group did not give a new deadline.

The group said the other seven Turkish hostages were released after their company decided to pull its staff of the country, according to Al-Arabiya. The militants also threatened other companies in Iraq, saying they too should leave.

Adali told CNN-Turk that "prominent families" in Iraq had helped secure the release of the men.

Company officials could not immediately be reached at their headquarters in Adana, Turkey, 500km south of the capital, Ankara.

A videotape obtained on Tuesday showed three of the hostages crouching on the floor in front of an Iraqi flag and holding their passports open at the photo page. The men were surrounded by men whose faces were covered in scarves, two of whom carried assault rifles while another held a rocket-propelled grenade.

Four other hostages were shown in a separate tape two days later.

The gunmen demanded that Turkish companies end all business in Iraq and pull staff out of the country. One of the gunmen, in a red headscarf, read out a statement saying Serka had been "serving" the American occupation forces.

The other freed hostages were identified as Tarkan Arikoglu, Vahit Arikazan, Hayri Ekinci, Erdal Bilgin, Ozkan Karatas and Mehmet, whose surname was not known.

- AP