No substantial info on missing Indians: Iraq foreign minister
NEWDELHI: The Iraqi government has “no substantial information” on the fate of the 39 Indians taken hostage by the Islamic State terror group in Mosul in 2014, foreign minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said on Monday.
“We have no substantial evidence that they (the Indians) were killed or they are still alive, so we cannot give anything in that regard,” al-Jaafari, who is an official visit to India, told reporters here.
The Iraqi government, he said while speaking through an interpreter, was as concerned about the fate of the 39 Indians as the Indian government.
Al-Jaafari acknowledged he had discussed the issue of the kidnapped Indians with his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj and pledged the Iraq government will continue its efforts to trace the men, all construction workers, who were kidnapped by militants three years ago.
He described as “inaccurate” the Indian government’s statement that the Indians were possibly being held in Badush prison. “We will continue to follow-up on this subject as if they were alive, this is what we must believe,” he said, adding that the IS is known to circulate information that is “untrue”.
“In such an atmosphere, we are unable to give a certain date by when this issue is going to be resolved. The Iraqi security forces are very ardent (about) finding all of those who were taken by Daesh,” al-Jaafari said.