2023

ANBAR, Iraq (Reuters) -Security forces are searching for two Kuwaitis who were kidnapped while on a hunting trip in a desert area in Iraq, two security officials said on Monday.

A police colonel confirmed the kidnapping took place on Sunday in a desert area between Anbar and Salahuddin provinces.

However, an Iraqi foreign ministry statement referred only to one Kuwaiti national.

It said Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told his Kuwaiti counterpart Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah the Iraqi government would “determine the fate of the Kuwaiti national”. The statement followed a phone call between the two ministers on Monday.

Iraqi security officials said an initial investigation showed that one of the hunters’ vehicles was attacked by gunmen and contact had been lost with the two Kuwaitis.

The desert region is known to be a hiding place for Islamic State militant groups that are still active, the two security sources said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the incident. Hunters from wealthy Gulf states often make trips to Iraq’s southern and western desert in search of hawks.

One police officer told Reuters on condition of anonymity the Kuwaitis had been in an extensive desert area that is very dangerous because Daesh (Islamic State) is still active there.

(Reporting by Kamal Ayash in Anbar and Ahmed Rasheed in Baghdad; Writing by Ahmed Rasheed; Editing by Hugh Lawson and Barbara Lewis)

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PARIS (Reuters) – A plane carrying 276 Indian passengers took off on Monday for Mumbai, the French interior ministry’s local office said, after it was grounded for four days pending investigation into possible human trafficking.

The flight, carried out by Romanian charter company Legend Airlines, had departed from Dubai and landed at the small Vatry airport on Thursday for a technical stopover when police intervened, the Marne prefecture said in a statement.

Bound for Nicaragua, the flight arrived in France with 303 Indian passengers onboard.

After being interrogated by police, two people investigated for human trafficking have been placed under “assisted witness” status while the investigation continues, according to the prosecutor’s office.

Another 25 people, including five minors, have stayed in France where they wish to seek asylum, authorities said.

(Reporting by Juliette Jabkhiro and Kate Entringer; Editing by Barbara Lewis)

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