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Nepalese hostages killed in Iraq
by bbc : 190 views
August 31st, 2004
Source: BBC News |  Email this News |  Discuss this news |  Print this News | Twelve Nepalese hostages have been killed by their captors in Iraq, a Nepalese ambassador has confirmed.
Pictures posted on a website by Islamic militants appeared to show one hostage being beheaded and 11 being shot dead.
Nepal's ambassador to Qatar said it was one of the "worst days" in his country's history.
The militants said the 12 Nepalis had been executed because they "came from their country to fight the Muslims and to serve the Jews and the Christians".
The group, Army of Ansar al-Sunna, said the men were being punished for helping the US, and it had "carried out the sentence of God" against them.
The 12 are thought to have travelled to the Middle East to earn money as cooks and cleaners.
In the Nepalese capital, Kathmandu, the cabinet held an emergency meeting to discuss the killings.
'Shot in the back'
The Nepalese foreign ministry said it was shocked and grieved at what it described as merciless killing.
Nepal's Ambassador to Qatar, Shyamanand Suman, urged all his countrymen in Iraq to return home.
The parents of hostage Ramesh Khadka did not expect his death
A video on the website showed the beheading of one man.
It also showed a group of men lying on the ground who then appeared to be shot in the back and the head.
A large number of hostages have been taken by militant groups in Iraq since US-led forces toppled the former ruler Saddam Hussein.
Some have been freed, others killed.
France is trying to secure the release of two French journalists currently held in Iraq.
The mass killing is the biggest loss of life so far at the hands of hostage-takers in Iraq.
In Nepal the men's families were grief-stricken.
"What sins have I committed to deserve this?" Jit Bahadur Khadka, father of hostage Ramesh, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press in Kathmandu.
"We had hoped that our brother would come back safely, but the [Nepalese] government didn't do enough to get them released," Ramesh's brother, Sudarshan said.
'No demands'
The Nepalis were employed by a company based in Jordan.
Nepal's Foreign Minister, Prakash Sharan Mahat, said the executions came as a shock because "there were no demands or deadlines."
Nepal is one of the poorest countries in the world and many workers are attracted to relatively well-paid jobs in the Gulf region.
The government has banned Nepalis from going to Iraq.
In an earlier video, the hostages blamed a recruitment company, Moonlight Consultant, for their ending up in Iraq.
They alleged that the Nepalese company promised them work in Jordan, but had a secret agreement with a Jordanian company for them to be sent to Iraq.
Moonlight Consultant has denied the charges, saying the workers were sent to Jordan but may themselves have chosen to go to Iraq for better pay.
There are some 20 citizens from other countries known to be being held hostage in Iraq.
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