A Turkish construction firm joined the growing list of companies to halt operations in Iraq last week in order to win the release of 10 of its staff held hostage by militants.
Britain has refused to make concessions to the militants holding the British contractor Kenneth Bigley captive in Iraq, as did the United States before Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley were executed by their captors. But many other countries and companies have given in to kidnappers’ demands in an attempt to free hostages.
Since militant groups began seizing foreigners in Iraq six months ago, they have made a significant impact on the operation of the US-led military coalition. In some cases, kidnappers have secured important political decisions, hampered the logistics of the US military or delayed reconstruction projects. In other cases it has been simply a matter of thousands of dollars in ransom.
This week Vinsan Construction Company, based in Ankara, said it was freezing its operations in Iraq after 10 employees were kidnapped. The men, mostly truck drivers, were working on a road project when they were abducted by what appeared to be a radical Sunni Muslim group calling itself the Salafist Brigades of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. The group said in a video broadcast on Saturday that the men would be killed if the firm did not pull out of Iraq within three days.
At least seven other Turkish firms have pulled out of Iraq after their drivers were kidnapped. The road from the Turkish border in northern Iraq through Mosul and on to Baghdad is a supply route for construction firms and the US military; stretches of the road also run through the heartland of the Sunni insurgency leaving drivers open to kidnap.
In one case last week a Turkish translator, Aytulla Gezmen, was freed after he converted to Islam. His kidnappers released a video showing him being freed and acknowledging he had converted and ”repented for working with the infidel American occupation forces”. So many other Turkish drivers have been killed by their captors that last month a Turkish truckers group, the International Transportation Association, said its members would stop delivering to US bases in Iraq.
But it is not just Turkish firms that have been targeted. Last week a Jordanian trucking firm said it would stop work in Iraq in order to free one of its drivers, Khalifa al-Breizat, who had been taken hostage. In July a Saudi Arabian logistics firm, Faisal al-Nahait Transport Company, pulled out of Iraq after one of its drivers, an Egyptian called Muhammad al-Gharabawi, was kidnapped.
Perhaps the biggest concession made so far came from one of the US’s erstwhile coalition allies. In July a Filipino trucker, Angelo de la Cruz, was taken hostage and his kidnappers demanded Filipino troops pull out. Within days Manila withdrew its small military contingent a month ahead of schedule, despite public criticism from the US.
De la Cruz was eventually freed unharmed and returned to a rapturous welcome in the Philippines.
Although other countries have pulled out of the military alliance, notably Spain, Honduras, the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, so far the Philippines has been the only country to give in directly to kidnappers’ demands.
In many cases suspected ransom payments accompany the public concessions. A Kuwaiti firm admitted earlier this month that it had paid to free its staff. Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company admitted paying more than $500 000 to win the release of seven drivers who had been held for 43 days. The men, three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian, were promptly released, exhausted but unharmed. Pointedly, the firm’s chairperson, Saeed Dashti, said his company would not stop working in Iraq ”because we have a commitment with the US-led coalition”, perhaps a sign of the lucrative contracts on offer.
One firm that has benefited most from such contracts is the US contractor Halliburton, which employs about 30 000 staff in Iraq, mostly providing logistics from food to transport for the US military. At least 45 Halliburton staff, including 18 Americans, have been killed since the war, some after being taken hostage. But the firm appears not to have offered any negotiations.
Months before foreigners were targeted for kidnapping, gangs were taking Iraqis hostage and many families have been forced to pay thousands of dollars to release their relatives.
Last month kidnappers won a small political concession when they forced the resignation of the governor of the western province of Al-Anbar, an insurgent stronghold, after kidnapping his three sons.
As security in Iraq becomes ever more fragile, there is little sign that the kidnapping frenzy against either Iraqis or foreigners will abate. — Â