DUBAI, Dec 31: Sudanese hostages held by Al Qaeda in Iraq have been freed, the Al-Jazeera news channel said on Saturday, a day after Khartoum shut down its embassy in Baghdad in line with the kidnappers’ demands.

The Arab satellite channel said the Sudanese foreign ministry has confirmed the release of the five hostages, who included a diplomat. The Iraqi government in Baghdad was unable to confirm the report.

Al Qaeda on Thursday claimed the kidnapping of five Sudanese in an Internet statement, giving Khartoum 48 hours to break off diplomatic relations with Baghdad, close its embassy and “withdraw all its representatives” in Iraq.

Khartoum then closed down its embassy in Baghdad and withdrew its diplomats on Friday.

Meanwhile, five people were killed in a bombing targeting a Sunni-based political party in Iraq on Saturday, one of a string of attacks around the country.

Two of those killed were men guarding the building, according to Mohammed Ahmed, an Islamic Party official.

The blast came as an official from Iraq’s electoral commission, charged with counting the ballots from the December 15 election, said a team of expert assessors would shortly be arriving in the country to look into allegations of electoral fraud.

“The mission is made up of four people — two high level Arab League representatives, a former Canadian member of parliament and a university professor representing the European Union,” said Adel Lamy.

The team will help evaluate the election results and meet representatives from a number of Sunni-based and secular parties who have alleged wide-scale electoral fraud.—AFP