Abductors extend deadline

The External Affairs Minister met father of one of the three Indians even as the militant group holding them announced new demands.

Iraq hostage crisis

The abductors have set a new 48-hour deadline and made additional demands

New demands

The Kuwaiti firm must pay compensation for those killed by the US forces in Fallujah

All Iraqi detainees in Kuwaiti and US prisons must be released

Earlier demands

The firm must stop doing business in Iraq

Countries to which hostages belong must withdraw their citizens

The latest tape did not repeat the beheading threat and bore no other specified ultimatum

External Affairs minister K. Natwar Singh met the father of one of the three Indians being held hostage in Iraq on Saturday even as the militant group holding them announced new demands in a video broadcast on Friday night.

Singh assured Rama Murthi, the father of Antaryami, that the crisis should be resolved soon, and peacefully. He said the government was in constant touch with Indian missions in Iraq, Kuwait and Cairo but declined to divulge details of the steps being taken.

Murthi also handed over to Singh a memorandum stating that the families of all three hostages are worried about the condition of the mother of Tilak Raj, one of the hostages, who has been ill ever since she heard the news.

Later, he met President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam and requested him to ensure that his son returns safely. "The President assured us that efforts were on to bring back all three hostages," he said.

When asked if he was happy with the government's efforts in securing the release of his son, Murthi said: "I will be happy only when my son is home."

The families have also sought an appointment with the Prime Minister.

Since two of the hostages are from Una district in Himachal Pradesh, state cooperative minister Kuldeep Kumar met Union MoS for external affairs E. Ahmed on the issue. He later said the state government was "fully satisfied with the steps taken by the Centre" and that chief minister Virbhadra Singh had directed district authorities in Una to provide all logistical and administrative support.

Meanwhile, the group — which calls itself “The Holders of the Black Banners” — has demanded that the hostages’ Kuwaiti employer pay compensation for all those killed by US forces in Fallujah and that all Iraqi detainees in Kuwaiti and US prisons be released. This is in addition to its earlier demands that the company stop doing business in Iraq and that the hostages' countries withdraw their citizens.

The Kuwaiti firm meanwhile said it was in touch with the kidnappers and said the matter was likely to be resolved soon. “They (the hostages) are safe. We will do whatever it takes to free them,” a manager said.