BAGHDAD, July 31: A Turkish driver, Mehmet Dayar, was released by his captors who kidnapped him on July 17, leaving at least 24 other foreigners still captured or missing in Iraq as of Saturday.
Here is a list of those known to be held captive or missing as of Saturday.
- Two Syrian truck drivers were abducted from a convoy of 17 trucks driven by Syrians and Jordanians near the infamous Abu Ghraib prison west of Baghdad.
- A group calling itself "Death Squad of Mujahedeen of Iraq" claimed on Thursday it had captured four Jordanians and called on the people of the kingdom to pressure their government to end its support for the US-led occupation, in a videotape aired by Dubai Television.
"We have taken as guests four of our brethren from Jordan in order to put pressure on their government and we don't want to turn from being hosts into other things," said a statement from the group.
The four captives were shown on the tape, visibly nervous and sweating as they held up their passports and identity cards. They may have belonged to the same convoy from which the two Syrian drivers were kidnapped.
- A Somali truck driver, Ali Ahmad Mussa, was kidnapped by alleged Al-Qaeda followers who threatened to decapitate him unless his Kuwaiti employer leaves Iraq within 48 hours, Al-Jazeera television reported Thursday.
- Two other Jordanian drivers were kidnapped on Monday by a group which reportedly threatened them with death unless their employer stopped work in the country within 72 hours.
They have been identified as Ahmad Salameh Hussein and Fayez Saad al-Adwan.
Their employer, Daoud and Partners, which provides food supplies to US troops in Iraq, announced on Tuesday that it would cease operations in Iraq to obtain its drivers' release.
- Seven truck drivers - three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian - were kidnapped on July 21 by a group calling itself "The Holders of the Black Banners". The group is demanding their Kuwaiti employer leave Iraq.
The three Kenyans have been identified as Jalal Mohamed Awadh, Faiz Khamis Salim and Ibrahim Khamis Idd. The Indians were named as Antaryami, Tilak Raj and Sukhdev Singh, while the Egyptian hostage is called Mohammed Ali al-Masri.
- Bulgarian national Ivailo Kepov was taken hostage along with a colleague on July 8 by Zarqawi's group.-AFP