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BBC News Wednesday, 8 September, 2004, 04:09 GMT 05:09 UK

Welcome for freed Kenyan truckers


The three Kenyan hostages are delighted to be back home
Three Kenyan truck drivers held captive in Iraq for more than a month have made an emotional return to Nairobi after being freed last week.

The drivers, who worked for a Kuwaiti haulage firm, were released with four others after the company paid a $500,000 ransom.

One driver said on arriving that there was no way they would ever return.  "Iraq is a very dangerous place and we thank God we are alive and safe," Faiz Khamis Salim said.

The BBC's Muliro Telewa said the three hostages looked happy but exhausted after their flight and responded to questions from journalists with simple short answers.

The kidnappers, calling themselves the Black Banners Brigade, had demanded that the company withdraw from Iraq.

The three men, Ibrahim Khamis, Faiz Khamis Salim and Jalal Mohammed Awadhi, were greeted at the city's airport by Kenyan Foreign Minister Chirau Ali Mwakwere.

"We are thankful to the Almighty for having made it possible for our brothers to get back home safe and sound. They went through a very trying moment, trying weeks, an ordeal that one would not like to experience again," said Mr Mwakwere.

"We were all worried at home, the families were devastated and were all in a shock," he added.

Ibrahim Khamis said they had been held in one room with four other hostages without any windows for 42 days.

"They never told us anything, but continued giving us hope that we would be released one day. They fed us well," he said.

The three men will meet President Mwai Kibaki later on Tuesday before returning to their home in Mombasa for a reunion with their families.

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