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| Wednesday, 03 November 2004 |
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COLOMBO, AFP, Authorities were still trying to make contact with the abductors of a Sri Lankan truck driver in Iraq amid reports that another of its nationals had been seized, officials said Tuesday. Foreign ministry officials said diplomatic efforts were underway to secure the release of truck driver Dinesh Dharmendran Rajaratnam who was taken hostage Thursday. "We have not yet been able to make contact with the group that has taken the Sri Lankan national," a spokesman said. "There has been no ransom demand or anything like that from the abductors either." The 36-year-old Sri Lankan, who was seized by the Islamic Army in Iraq on Thursday, had told his family three weeks ago that he was desperate to return home, a family member said. The foreign ministry said it was also concerned about fresh reports from Baghdad that an Asian, probably a Nepalese or a Sri Lankan, had been abducted on Monday. "We are checking on this report too, but we have no confirmation," the spokesman said. Sri Lanka has no diplomatic mission in Iraq and four months ago discouraged its nationals from going there in search of employment. Foreign ministry officials said they were working with the Sri Lankan mission in Lebanon to secure the release of the first Sri Lankan hostage in Iraq. Al-Jazeera television said the Islamic Army in Iraq had abducted a driver from Sri Lanka and another from Bangladesh who works for a Kuwaiti company. Al-Jazeera quoted a statement from the group as saying "the two hostages were abducted before driving their trucks into a US base in Iraq". Extremist groups in Iraq have taken several truckers hostage in a bid to force their companies out of Iraq. In some cases, ransoms have been paid to secure the release of hostages. |
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