BAGHDAD, July 29 (AFP) - The Indian embassy began talks Thursday with a go-between trying to broker the release of three nationals held hostage by militant Islamists in Iraq, mediator Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi said.
"The Indian embassy has started moving," Dulaimi told AFP when asked whether the mission had begun talks through him to persuade the kidnappers to release the truck drivers, held along with an Egyptian and three Kenyan colleagues.
Indian diplomats were not immediately available for comment.
Dulaimi gave no further details about the progress of the negotiations and said he was not aware of any renewed threat from the "Holders of the Black Banners" group to kill their hostages.
Earlier this week, the kidnappers stayed a threatened deadline to begin executing the seven truckers to allow negotiations to take place.
The group has demanded that the men's Kuwaiti employer leave Iraq, where it supplies US forces.
Dulaimi had earlier this week criticized the embassies and the Kuwaiti company for not doing enough to get the hostages released.
The sheikh added that the Egyptian mission in Baghdad was to issue a televised appeal for the release of its trucker, on the strength of his Arab and Muslim identity.
"His release will strengthen the Arab community," Dulaimi said, after being in contact with Egyptian diplomats.
On Wednesday, a diplomat said negotiations for the drivers' release were being conducted by their Kuwaiti employer because the kidnappers had demanded nothing from the hostages' governments.