New Delhi: With the abductors of three Indians in Iraq extending the deadline by another 48 hours, Government today (Jul 24, 2004) said that it was making all efforts for their release and was in touch with authorities in Baghdad and Kuwait.

Government was making all efforts to secure the safe release of the three hostages, National Security Advisor J N Dixit told reporters after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Security in New Delhi.

It was in touch with Governments of Iraq and Kuwait and their representatives in Delhi as also US Embassy, he said.

He, however, said the hostage crisis, which entered the third day today, was not discussed at the meeting.

The meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and attended by Home Minister Shivraj Patil, External Affairs Minister K Natwar Singh, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Army Chief N C Vij, discussed the next week's talks with China on the vexed border issue.

The captors, who are also holding three Egyptians and a Kenyan along with the Indians, offered a new 48 hours deadline to the captives' Kuwaiti employer to meet their demands.

The group calling itself the 'Black Flags' had originally set a deadline of 8 hrs (IST) today, saying that it would then start beheading one hostage every 72 hours if their demand that the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport firm for which the men worked pull out of Iraq.

The outfit is now demanding "paying of damages to families of victims of Fallujah and the release of Iraqi detainees from American and Kuwait prisons.