Celebrations as Indian hostages back home
AFP, New Delhi
Three Indian truck drivers freed after a six-week hostage ordeal in Iraq were headed to their villages yesterday for a night of celebration after a rousing dawn welcome at New Delhi's airport. The former hostages, who were greeted by excited relatives and government officials after arriving on a flight from Kuwait, said they had been well treated by their kidnappers but were relieved to be home. Tilak Raj, Sukhdev Singh and Antaryami, who uses only one name, were kidnapped July 21 along with an Egyptian and three Kenyan colleagues by an Iraqi group called the Holders of the Black Banners. They were freed mid-week by their captors after their Kuwaiti employers, transport firm KGL, paid a ransom of half a million dollars. The men were hugged by family members before climbing on to a podium where they thanked the government for helping secure their release. "We are very grateful that the government worked day and night to free us," said Antaryami. The hostages said they had not been ill-treated. "We were well taken care of by the militants," Raj told AFP. "They did not threaten us or put us under emotional pressure at any time."
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India's Deputy Foreign Minister E. Ahamed (R) looks on as freed Indian hostage Tilak Raj addresses media representatives after he and fellow detainees Sukhdev Singh and Antaryami arrived at Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi yesterday. PHOTO: AFP |
