Iraqi Kidnappers Set To Release Turkish Hostages

Islamist militants who kidnapped 49
Turks at a Turkish consulate in northern Iraq in
June will likely free them in the next day or two,
Turkey's Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz said on
Saturday.
"We are pursuing contacts with all parties in
Iraq. They [the hostages] may come back
tomorrow or the day after tomorrow", Yilmaz
said, quoted by the Dogan news agency.
Yilmaz said Ankara had opted for dialogue with
the hostage-takers after ruling out any military
operaton that could endanger the hostages.
Fighters from the jihadist group the Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), later
renamed Islamic State kidnapped the 49 Turks,
including diplomats and children, from the
Turkish consulate in Mosul on June 11 as they
captured swathes of northern Iraq.
Yilmaz's announcement was the first official
word in weeks on the fate of the hostages, who
include the general consul.
A few days after the abductions, a Turkish court
imposed a blackout on media coverage of the
incident citing fears for the security of other
Turks in Iraq.
The militants had also snatched 32 Turkish
truck drivers during the offensive, releasing
them on July 3.
Observers saw the hostage-takings as
retaliation soon after Ankara added the then-
ISIL to its list of terrorist organisations.
Turkey has advised its nationals to leave Iraq
apart from the relatively safe Kurdish region in
the northeast.