A Qatari party of 26 hunters, who were abducted in Iraq in 2015, have been released and will soon join their government’s delegation in Baghdad on Friday, officials told AFP. The group is believed to include members of the country’s royal family, although their identities have not been disclosed.
Officials said their release was the result of negotiations involving the freeing of prisoners and the evacuation of civilians in neighbouring Syria, the news agency reported.
An official said the victims’ identities are being verified before being handed over to the Qatari delegation. The group was believed to have been kidnapped during a hunting trip in Iraq’s Muthanna govenorate, Al Jazeera had reported. In April 2016, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said one of the abductees and an Asian worker had been released.
“The Qataris are now in [Iraqi Prime Minister] Haider al-Abadi’s office following a deal between Jabhat al-Nusra and the kidnappers,” the official was quoted as saying. Jabhat Fateh al-Sham is a former al-Qaeda affiliate.
No group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.
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