ANKARA, Feb 7 (AFP) - A Turkish business magnate Kahraman Sadikoglu, kidnapped in Iraq in December, will be released in the next two days, the Turkish Sabah newspaper reported Monday citing the hostage's family.
Sadikoglu, owner of an Istanbul-based freight company, was kidnapped in the area of the southern seaport of Umm Qasr on December 16 together with three other people.
The newspaper did not say if a ransom had been paid to the kidnappers as was recently reported by Turkish papers.
The Turkish foreign ministry told AFP it was unable to confirm the report. A spokeswoman said only that efforts were continuing to obtain his release.
The three people taken hostage at the same time as Sadikoglu -- two Turks and an Iraqi -- were freed last month.
Sadikoglu is one of Turkey's richest buinessmen. His freight company is currently operating in the Iraqi cities of Basra and Umm Qasr.
Sadikoglu had been awarded contracts to refloat Iraqi vessels that sank in the Gulf during the war between Iran and Iraq in the 1980s.
02/07/2005 09:46 GMT - AFP