Greek Foreign Ministry ocnfirmed on Sunday, that one Greek citizen was among the siven hostages killed by Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru. Foreign Ministry in fact confirms the claims of Ansaru statement it had killed seven Christian hostages, abducted on February 16th 2013.
Greek Foreign Ministry said in a statement:
“The Foreign Ministry is sorry to announce that the information available points to the death of a Greek citizen who was abducted on 16 February by a terrorist organization in Nigeria. The Foreign Ministry has notified his family.
The Greek citizen was employed by the Lebanese company Setraco and was working in Bauchi, in northern Nigeria, when armed perpetrators attacked the compound where company personnel resided and abducted seven persons.
After taking responsibility for the attack, the terrorist organization at no stage either communicated or expressed demands for the release of the hostages.
Throughout the intervening time, the Greek side made it absolutely clear to all involved sides that its top priority was the protection and safety of the hostages. This defined our stance in every aspect of the handling of the case. Based on the information we have, no operation was mounted to free the hostages.” (full statement mfa.gr)
Earlier today, KTG reported:
Seven hostages from Greece, Britain, Italy and Lebanon have been allegedly killed by Nigerian Islamist group Ansaru. The group posted a statement on its website on Friday. However there has been no official confirmation yet, neither by Nigerian authorities nor by the foreign ministries of the hostages’s countries.
“Concern is growing for the fate of seven foreign hostages after a Nigerian Islamist group posted a statement on a website saying they had been killed.
The seven – from Britain, Greece, Italy and Lebanon – were seized last month from a construction site in the northern state of Bauchi.
The group known as Ansaru said it had carried out the kidnapping in revenge for what it called ‘atrocities by European nationals against Islam’.
It claimed the hostages had been killed because of a failed rescue attempt by British and Nigerian forces. Officials say they are not aware of any such attempt.” (euronews)
British foreign office said Sunday it investigates the claims ( Mirror UK).
