KATHMANDU, Aug 21 (AFP) - Nepal's government said Saturday it was checking labour records for information on 12 of its citizens reportedly abducted in Iraq, where the Himalayan kingdom has no diplomatic representation.
"We've started checking files to see if any Nepalese went to Iraq through employment offices in Kathmandu," said a labour ministry official.
"We are also investigating whether these people are Nepalese citizens or are people of Nepalese descent who hold other nationality," he said.
The government had set up a three-man investigation team to probe the matter headed by secretary for works and labour ministry Narayan Silwal, a cabinet source said.
Information Minister Mohammad Mohsin said separately Nepal had told its embassy in Saudi Arabia to make its own inquiries. "The government at this point has no information about this incident," Mohsin said.
Nepal had advised its nationals not to go to Iraq, but media reports said employment agencies had tried to recruit Nepalese residents in neighbouring India.
Some half a million Nepalese work overseas, sending a vital billion dollars a year in remittances to the cash-strapped kingdom.
Islamist websites posted a statement Friday from a militant group that said Islamic fighters had taken captive 12 "infidels" who were "affiliated with a Nepalese company."
It said the 12 had been helping "US crusader forces to fight Islam" and that their pictures would be published soon.
Nepal, whose army is battling a bloody Maoist uprising, declined US requests to send troops to Iraq, although Nepalese Gurkhas serving with the British armed forces have been posted in the Middle Eastern country.