3 Turkish hostages to be released

[DBAHO]

THREE Turkish hostages held in Iraq by an extremist group that had threatened to behead them have been released, Al-Jazeera television said tonight.

The group already responsible for beheading two foreign hostages announced it is releasing the Turkish captives "for the sake of their Muslim brothers," according to the report.

 

The hostages' release was confirmed by the Turkish Foreign Minister this evening.

 

"Our citizens have been released," Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told state television. "We've struggled alot for their release."

 

The Arab satellite station broadcast a videotape showing the three hostages kneeling in front of three members of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid and Jihad movement, as one of the militants read a statement.

 

"For the sake of you, our brothers, and Muslims of the people of Turkey ... we will release these hostages and send them safely home," the statement said.

 

Supporters of al-Zarqawi, a suspected al-Qaeda terrorist, said on Saturday that they would behead the Turkish hostages within 72 hours unless Turkish companies stopped doing business with American forces in Iraq.

 

They also called for large demonstrations in Turkey against the war and US President George W. Bush, who is attending a NATO summit in Turkey.

 

The following day, Turkey's defence minister, Vecdi Gonul, reportedly said Turkey would not give in to terrorists' threats.

 

Turkish media reports have identified the three as Mustafa Bal, Mehmet Bakir and Abdulselam Bakir, all Turkish Kurds from Turkey's Kurdish-dominated southeast.

 

The militants said they decided to free the Turks "after they pledged not to support the non-believers again," meaning stop working for US forces.

 

"Please stop your silly (leaders) from cooperating with the occupying enemy, or else we will execute the punishment," the statement added.

 

Two other Turkish hostages held by militants in Iraq were allowed to call their families to say they would be freed within a week after their company agreed to kidnappers' demands to stop working as a contractor for the US military in Iraq, CNN-Turk television reported.

 

The fathers of the two hostages said that the two hostages - Soner Sercali, an air conditioning repairman, and his co-worker Murat Kizil - were in good health. They have been reported missing since June 1.

 

Sercali's father Feridun said their company, Kayteks, had agreed to stop doing business in Iraq.

 

Neither the company nor the families could be reached for comment Tuesday.

 

The Turkish news agency Ihlas yesterday released a photograph of the two hostages showing them squatting in front of five masked men armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades. The agency said its photographer took the picture at an unspecified location in Iraq.

 

Thousands of Turks work as truck drivers or contractors in Iraq. The kidnapped Turks were accused of working for the US occupiers.