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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraqi kidnappers release South Asian hostages |
| 2004-12-11 |
| Kidnappers have released two truck drivers, one from Bangladesh and the other from Sri Lanka, after holding them hostage in Iraq for more than a month. The two have appeared briefly before reporters at the Sri Lankan embassy in Baghdad and looked relatively well, smiling and waving to television cameras. Bangladeshi Abul Kashem, 44, and Sri Lankan Dinesh Rajaratnam, 37, had been seized on October 28 while transporting supplies to Iraq from Kuwait. Both are employed by a Kuwaiti trucking company. Thousands of truck drivers, many of them from poor regions of Asia, have come to the Middle East over the past 18 months to find work transporting goods into Iraq. Scores have been killed by insurgents determined to disrupt attempts by US and Iraqi authorities to rebuild the country, or by bandits seeking to steal their produce. Dozens of others have been kidnapped and threatened with death if the companies employing them do not cease operating in Iraq. Despite the dangers, there appears to be no shortage of drivers willing to take the risk to earn up to $US300 a month. |
| Posted by:God Save The World |