Four Jordanian, 2 Turk drivers freed in Iraq

Militants in Iraq freed four Jordanian and two Turkish drivers after taking them hostage to put pressure on their companies to…

Militants in Iraq freed four Jordanian and two Turkish drivers after taking them hostage to put pressure on their companies to stop working in the country, relatives and media said today.

The four Jordanians, who were freed in the Iraqi town of Falluja last night, will be handed over to Jordanian diplomats in Baghdad later today.

Al Jazeera television reported that a militant group linked to al Qaeda ally Abu Musab al-Zarqawi had released two Turkish drivers it was holding hostage because their companies had agreed to stop working in Iraq.

In Amman, a government source confirmed the release of the four Jordanians and said local mediators were making preparations for their handover to embassy officials in Baghdad.

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Mr Maher Sinoqrut, brother of freed hostage Mr Ahmad Sinoqrut, 26, credited tribal leaders and local elders, who were asked by Jordan to act as mediators, for securing their release.

Relatives said the kidnappers had decided to free the four after establishing they had not been carrying goods for US troops.

The men were taken hostage last week after their convoy was ambushed near Falluja, a hotbed of resistance to coalition forces. They were carrying shoes and knitting machines imported by an Iraqi firm from the United Arab Emirates.

The two Turkish drivers, Mr Abdulrahman Demir and Mr Said Unurlu, had been threatened with beheading if their employer refused to meet the kidnappers' demands.

On Sunday, the haulage firms Kahramanli and Oztur, which employed the men, said they were prepared to suspend operations in Iraq to secure their release.

Militants in Iraq have waged a campaign of kidnapping aimed at driving out companies and troops supporting US forces and the new Iraqi interim administration.