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Indians Taken Hostage By ISIS In Mosul Are Alive: Sushma Swaraj

Indians Taken Hostage By ISIS In Mosul Are Alive, Says Sushma Swaraj
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Editorial Producer, HuffPost India

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ABBAS MOMANI via Getty Images
Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj meets with Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (R) on January 17, 2016 in the West Bank city of Ramallah. / AFP / ABBAS MOMANI (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)

NEW DELHI -- The 39 Indians taken hostage by ISIS more than one-and-a-half-years ago from Mosul in Iraq were alive, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj told their families yesterday, based on her recent meetings with Arab and Palestinian leaders who indicated to this effect.

Swaraj, who had sought a meeting with the families which is the ninth since the abduction of these Indians in June 2014, also assured them that the government was "fully and continuously engaged" and "every possible effort" was being made to ensure their release.

According to official sources, the minister told them that during a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, the leader informed her that the "Indians are alive and made to work" in war-torn Iraq as per his government's intelligence information. Swaraj had travelled to Palestine and Israel on 17 and 18 January.

The minister also referred to her visit to Bahrain on 23 January or the first India-Arab League Cooperation Forum and said during the meeting, a declaration was adopted which said, "The two sides expressed concern at the kidnapping of 39 Indian workers in Mosul in Iraq in June 2014 and 3 Indian workers in Sirte in Libya in June 2015.

"The Arab side expressed full solidarity with India in all efforts for their early release from captivity."

The Indians were kidnapped by Islamic militant group ISIS from a construction site in Mosul.

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-- This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.