hunting party held hostage in iraq since 2015 freed
Saturday 15 March 2025
Last Updated : GMT 09:40:38
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Hunting party held hostage in Iraq since 2015 freed

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicleHunting party held hostage in Iraq since 2015 freed

In this photo released by Qatar News Agency, Emir of Qatar His Highness Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al
Doha/Baghdad - Arab today

Twenty-six Qataris and two Saudis, were freed on Friday after being kidnapped and held in Iraq for nearly a year and a half, Qatari officials said. Qatar-based Al Jazeera television showed Qatar's Emir His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani greeting the men with hugs as they arrived in Doha on Friday on a private jet from Baghdad.

Their release was a boost for Qatar which has used its influence to free foreign hostages in war zones but was alarmed when 26 of its own citizens were seized by unidentified gunmen in 2015 while hunting in southern Iraq. 

Their abduction in territory dominated by militias aligned with neighbouring Iran led to long negotiations among Qatar, Iran and the Lebanese group Hezbollah, according to an Arab diplomat in Doha. A Qatari official said the hostages' release was linked to a major evacuation of Syrian civilians and fighters from four besieged towns completed on Friday.

The official said talks about the evacuations, involving Iranian officials and Syrian rebel group Ahrar Al Sham, were held in Qatar when Iran’s foreign minister visited on March 8. The complexity of the talks and the many players involved highlights Qatar's continued role as a mediator and a potential broker of deals in Syria's six-year conflict.

In Riyadh, the Saudi foreign ministry said the two Saudi hostages landed there on a private jet late on Friday. "They are all in good health and they all left the Iraqi capital this afternoon," the ministry said, according to the Saudi state news agency SPA.

The group was kidnapped December 16, 2015 from a desert hunting camp in southern Iraq by dozens of armed men in pickup trucks. A Qatari royal and a Pakistani man were freed last year. No one has claimed responsibility for the abduction of the hunters, who were seized near a Saudi border area dominated by militias who have accused Doha of meddling in Iraq's affairs.

Some Iraqis, especially in the south, are critical of Qatar’s stance in the Syrian civil war and accuse it of complicity in the rise of militants. Qatar, a member of the U.S.-led coalition fighting IS in Iraq and Syria, denies supporting extremist groups.

It had called on Iraq to take the lead in freeing the hostages, who had been granted permits by Baghdad to hunt in the area. Iraq’s interior ministry said the hunters had failed to heed government instructions to stay within secured areas. Hunters from Gulf states travel to Iraq's desert in the winter months to buy falcons and hunt the rare houbara bustard, a bird whose meat is highly prized.

Source: Timesofoman

themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

hunting party held hostage in iraq since 2015 freed hunting party held hostage in iraq since 2015 freed

 



Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle

GMT 09:29 2017 Friday ,14 April

Alba investigates power outage incident

GMT 16:36 2015 Saturday ,08 August

Sweden's Sjostrom claims world fly gold double

GMT 08:02 2017 Sunday ,31 December

Beaten Serena unsure about Australian Open

GMT 10:33 2017 Monday ,30 October

Kevin Spacey accused of sexual harassment

GMT 13:41 2017 Tuesday ,28 November

Smith vows no let-up on England

GMT 21:01 2017 Sunday ,03 December

Emir of boycott-hit Qatar to attend Gulf summit

GMT 09:57 2017 Thursday ,28 September

Wael stresses appreciation to George Wassof

GMT 08:09 2017 Wednesday ,18 October

Iraq forces take oil fields, dashing Kurdish dreams

GMT 06:12 2017 Sunday ,19 November

Bahrain weather forecast Bahrain weather forecast

GMT 09:21 2017 Thursday ,09 February

Australia moves to deport refugees in Papua New Guinea

GMT 17:14 2017 Monday ,04 September

Kuwait, Zanzibar discuss strengthening ties

GMT 05:03 2017 Wednesday ,30 August

Kidnapping feared after French girl vanishes

GMT 10:14 2017 Friday ,25 August

Britain's Johnson meets Libya strongman Haftar

GMT 22:24 2017 Sunday ,06 August

Qatar sends delegations to Iran to attend Rouhani

GMT 18:22 2018 Tuesday ,09 January

Jaguars edge Bills to advance in playoffs

GMT 05:55 2017 Monday ,03 April

Global Energy News

GMT 09:11 2017 Monday ,04 December

Alba receives inaugural Bahrain-US FTA Award
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
Themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle
 
 Themuslimchronicle Facebook,themuslimchronicle facebook  Themuslimchronicle Twitter,themuslimchronicle twitter Themuslimchronicle Rss,themuslimchronicle rss  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube  Themuslimchronicle Youtube,themuslimchronicle youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©

muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle muslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle themuslimchronicle
themuslimchronicle
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle, themuslimchronicle