The Kuwaiti transport company that employs seven foreign drivers seized by guerrillas in Iraq said yesterday it would do all it could to win their release and prevent the kidnappers carrying out a threat to kill them.
"Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company will take all appropriate measures to secure the release of the drivers who were detained in Iraq yesterday," a company statement said.
Video footage given to news organizations showed the seven men, looking tired and afraid, stating their name and nationality to the camera. Their captors say they will behead them one by one unless their employer pulls out of Iraq.
The announcement of their kidnapping on Wednesday sparked a new hostage crisis just a day after guerrillas freed a Filipino driver following Manila's capitulation to their demands.
The guerrillas also demanded that India, Kenya and Egypt withdraw their citizens from Iraq. None of the countries are part of the US-led military coalition in Iraq, but many of their nationals work as drivers and contractors.
"If they carry out their threat it would be a serious development. We condemn this incident. We hope that the dark period does not last long," Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh said in Islamabad, where he is attending a conference.
Kenyan Foreign Minister Chi-rau Ali Mwakwere said his country "will do everything possible to get them back home."
The wife of one of the Kenyans, father of four Ibrahim Khamis, said the family was praying for his safe return.
"He predicted difficulties in his line of work but was determined to go ahead with it. He decided to stay despite the dangers to work for the sake of his family," Esha Nyarimbo Mwandighi told reporters.
In the latest violence, during hours of fighting in the rebellious western city of Ramadi on Wed-nesday, US Marines killed 25 guerrillas, wounded 17 and captured 25, the US military said in a statement.
It said 13 US Marines and one soldier were wounded in the clashes but none of the injuries were life-threatening.
Also see story:
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS