Three Russians and five Ukrainians working for a Russian energy firm who were abducted in Iraq Monday have been freed, the Russian Embassy in Iraq confirmed on Tuesday.  

The eight employees of the Interenergoservis firm, or international energy service, have been released and are at home, Interfax cited a company official as saying.

"The financial director of the company called from Iraq 20 minutes ago and said that the eight hostages were freed and are currently at their homes," Alexander Abramov, head of the energy company, was quoted as saying.

3 Russians, 5 Ukrainians confirmed kidnapped in Iraq

Three Russians and five Ukrainians working for a Russian energy firm were abducted in Iraq Monday evening, Interfax reported on Tuesday.

Akram Hazam, head of the Moscow bureau of the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel, said the three Russians are Sergei Konotlov, Igor Frolov and Ilya Chernyshov.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has officially confirmed that five Ukrainian employees of Russia's Interenergo service firm, or international energy service, were taken hostage in Iraq.

Hazam denied earlier suspicion that Belarussian citizens were among the eight captives.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko has confirmed the abduction of the eight employees of the Russian energy company in Baghdad, but the whereabouts of the hostages have not been found yet.

The official statement came hours after the Arabic TV channel al-Jazeera reported that 11 Russians were seized after their Iraqi bodyguards exchanged fire with the kidnappers. Two bodyguards were killed in the clash.

Alexander Rybinsky, executive director of Interenergo service, said nine of its employees had been taken hostage but one was later released.

"The Russian embassy in Baghdad is taking energetic efforts to clarify the situation and free the kidnapped," said Yakovenko.

A Foreign Ministry source said the Russian Embassy in Iraq is taking urgent measures to have the eight people freed.

"We have instruments in our arsenal that can promote the liberation of our compatriots," the unidentified official said without going into the details.

But the diplomat said the embassy could not count on cooperation with local law enforcement agents in this emergency situation because "Iraq law enforcement is paralyzed."

Iraqi chargé d'affaires in Russia said the country's authorities have condemned the abduction of the eight employees and demanded that they be immediately released, according to Interfax.

Having foreseen the possibility that terrorists could capture Russian citizens in Iraq, Russia has advised the Interenergoservice to withdraw its personnel but the company failed to do so.

Rybinsky said Tuesday that his company is planning to leave Iraq to ensure the safety of the staff.

Moscow is considering the evacuation of all Russians from Iraq by aircraft, the Foreign Ministry source said.

In addition to 200 employees of Interenergoservice, which is restoring the al-Dora power plant in Baghdad, there are about 300 members of the Russian Technoprom Company in Iraq building the Yusifia heat and energy station 60 km outside Baghdad.

(Xinhua News Agency April 14, 2004)