New Delhi: Government tonight (July 30, 2004) decided to depute a senior External Affairs Ministry official to the Indian Embassy in Baghdad to assist in efforts to seek early and safe return of the three Indians held hostage in Iraq.

After a five-hour meeting of the Crisis Management Group headed by him to deal with the issue, Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed told reporters that the Government has decided that Indian nationals will not travel to Iraq through the borders of Kuwait and Jordan.

Asked about reports that the deadline given by the kidnappers, which ended tonight has been indefinitely extended, he said "we have seen reports that the hostage takers have extended the deadline. Government would welcome an authentic confirmation of the news".

Asked whether the Government had any information about extension of deadline, Ahamed said there was "no confirmation" and the Government was hoping it will be extended.

About the status of negotiations, the minister said the Government had seen a statement of the negotiator Sheikh Hizham Al Dulaimi talking about his efforts to see a happy ending to the incident "out of humanitarian consideration".

Dulaimi has reported to have said that he will meet KGL (Kuwait Gulf Link) officials tomorrow to conduct further negotiations for the release of the hostages, he said.

"If this is true, this is a welcome and hopeful development," Ahamed said.

"It has been decided that a senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs, who is familiar with the region and its language, will be deputed to our Embassy in Baghdad to assist in our efforts to seek the early and safe release of our nationals and their return home," Ahamed said and added that details in this regard will be furnished "shortly".