Hostages freed

Twenty-six members of a hunting party, including members of the Qatari royal family, were freed yesterday after 16 months in captivity in Iraq. They were kidnapped in December 2015 when about 100 armed men stormed their desert camp near the border with Saudi Arabia as they were falcon hunting. The abduction took place in a desolate territory dominated by Shia militias that are loyal to Iran. Negotiations to free the hunters involved Iran and Qatar, which support opposite sides in the Syrian civil war. The deal to free the Qatari royals appears to have been linked to the evacuation of four besieged towns in Syria. A large ransom is believed to have been paid before the hostages were handed over to a Qatari delegation in Baghdad.