JAMMU: Four Western hostages who were kidnapped by the Al Faran gunmen in south Kashmir more than a year ago, are alive, official sources said here last week. Al Faran, which surfaced in Kashmir valley in 1995, had picked up six foreign tourists from Pahalgam area between July 48, of the six, one hostage had escaped and another had been decapitated.
‘The government agencies had been avoiding any confrontation with the outfit fearing that the hostages would be harmed. There were fears that the hostages had been killed after November last year when contact between the authorities and the Al Faran had snapped. An arrested militant of the outfit had also told authorities that their bodies were buried somewhere in the Kokemag area of south Kashmir. A search operation by Indian and foreign experts had, however, failed to yield results. ‘The four hostages who are still in captivity are Paul Wells, 23, and Kieth Mangam, 33, both British nationals, Donald Hutchings, 42, of United States and Dirk Hasert, 26, a German national. John Childs, 41, a United States national, had escaped from captivity and was rescued by two government functionaries. Hans Christian Ostro (27), a Norwegian captive was beheaded and his body was found by some women in the valley.
The heinous abduction and killing of one of the hostages has attracted worldwide condemnation, The Clinton Administration, the governments of Britain, Germany, Norway, the UN Secretary General and even Pakistan have officially condemned the abduction. Appeals were made by the wives of captives for the release of the hostages without any harm, but Al Faran group, believed to be a front organization of Harkat ul Ansar, has not relented. Religious leaders in India and other countries have severely criticized the abductors, but the foreign tourists continue to be in captivity for more than’ a year now.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 17, 1996
