ANKARA, Sept 6 (AFP) - A Turkish driver taken hostage by a militant Iraqi group has been released, a senior Turkish diplomat said Monday, one day after his employer said it had ceased operations in Iraq.
The diplomat, who was speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed an earlier report by Al-Arabiya television.
The abduction of the driver, Medhat Chiwi, was announced two days ago by a group calling itself the "Islamic Resistance Movement - Noman Brigades."
It threatened to behead him unless his firm and other Turkish companies cooperating with US troops pulled out of Iraq within two days.
A Kuwaiti firm which Chiwi works for through a Turkish contractor told AFP on Sunday that it had halted operations in Iraq and appealed for his release.
Details on Al-Arabiya of Chiwi`s reported release were scarce, the channel`s correspondent only saying he was quoting "reliable" sources.
In its statement Sunday saying it had ceased "all operations" in Iraq, his employer issued a "humanitarian appeal for his family and children" to spare him.
Four Turkish nationals have been executed at the hands of hostage-takers in the war-torn country. Several others have been kidnapped and released, mostly after their employers agreed to pull out.
Dozens of other foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq by insurgents seeking to force their governments or employers to leave the country. A number of Turkish truckers employed with Kuwaiti companies are now refusing to go in to the country for fear of being taken hostage.