Delhi names envoy to talk release of hostages
AFP, New Delhi
India has named top diplomat Talmiz Ahmad as its special envoy to negotiate the release of three Indian truck drivers taken hostage by insurgents in Iraq on July 21, a minister said yesterday. "It has been decided to depute Talmiz Ahmad our ambassador in Muscat," Junior Foreign Minister E. Ahamed told reporters in New Delhi. "He is ... an Arabic speaker and has served in the Gulf region," the minister said. Ahmad will be assisted by an interpreter attached to India's Foreign Minister Zakir-ur-Rehman. "We understand that Ambas-sador Ahmed is already on his way to Baghdad and expected to reach Baghdad either this evening or at latest by tomorrow morning," the minister said. The announcement came as the abductors, who call themselves Holders of the Black Banners, extended by 24 hours their deadline for a raft of conditions to be met.
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