42 days, a ‘million dollars’ later, hostages on way home

Kuwait & Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL), the employer of the seven truck drivers, confirmed to The Indian Express that it coughed up in excess of $350,000 as ‘‘ransom’’—at least $50,000 for each hostage.

The original demand was to the tune of $5 million but the abductors apparently brought it down to $500,000 after the company pointed out during the negotiations that $50,000 was the amount paid for the release of an Egyptian engineer.

KGL president Saeed Ismail Al-Dashti was quoted by AFP in Kuwait as saying that the company had paid over $500,000 to the abductors to secure the hostages’ release. KGL spokesperson Rana Abu-Zaineh told The Indian Express that the company had incurred a cost of ‘‘all in all nearly a million dollars’’ to facilitate the release.

Sources said there was a possibility that some money, over and above the $350,000, is likely to have been paid before closing the ‘‘deal.’’ But the company also incurred additional cost in making arrangements for the release apart from some payments it may have made earlier.

An agreement on the amount to be paid to the abductors, sources said, was reached during intense negotiations over the weekend and was finalised by Monday when the first signal came that the hostages were likely to be freed in a couple of days.

Indian Ambassador to Kuwait Swash Pawan Singh called up Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran late last evening saying that the company had informed the embassy of a probable release of the hostages on Wednesday.

Another message of a likely release any time came at noon today.

The confirmation only came in the form of a news flash on Al-Arabiya television network this afternoon. After the release, the hostages were first taken to the Egyptian embassy in Baghdad and then flown to Kuwait in a flight chartered by the company.

India has, however, denied involvement in any cash transaction.

‘‘We have maintained our principles on this issue and have overseen the release of the hostages without forsaking our values,’’ said Minister of State for External Affairs E. Ahamed who also headed the crisis management group.

He said the issue of compensation to the families of the hostages had not been discussed yet.

‘‘Let them come back first. They are not the sort of people who will look for compensation. They just want to be back with their beloved families,’’ said Ahamed.

While the modalities of the release were being worked out, India made it known in Kuwait and Iraq that it was in complete solidarity with Nepal over the killing of 12 Nepalese hostages.

The chances of the hostages’ release brightened after the Holders of the Black Banners—the group which had abducted the seven truckers on July 21— gave a video statement last Thursday, and the situation improved gradually after August 23.

It’s learnt that it was around this date that the abductors had begun to respond positively for the first time after talks broke down on August 7 when KGL had even sent a plane to Baghdad to pick up the hostages.

Apparently, a video confirming the safety of the hostages was passed on to the KGL before Thursday’s public video by the abductors on Al-Arabiya, which further bolstered the efforts.

The only issue that remained to be discussed was cash.

Meanwhile, India had also taken up the matter with Kuwait Foreign Minister Mohammed Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah when he was here last week.

With Kuwait’s growing business interests in India, sources said, Al-Sabah promised to make every effort in securing the release as this will only have a positive impact to the relationship between both countries.