The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on August 6 that three Turkish citizens are claimed to have been held hostage and two others are reported missing in Iraq.

All capabilities of the ministry and other relevant state institutions have been mobilized also with contribution of several Iraqi circles to find and rescue those Turkish citizens, the ministry

said in a statement.

Meanwhile, it said that Turkey will strongly continue sending aid to meet humanitarian needs of Iraq's people with whom it has ties that have roots deep in history.

Iraq remained to be a risky country in terms of security despite efforts and activities that have been under way for Iraq's rebuilding and settlement of stability, the statement said.

Despite all efforts of the Iraqi interim government and multinational force, public order and security could not be provided yet and in this environment, Turkish citizens who go to Iraq and personnel of Turkish transportation, exportation and contracting companies which make business in Iraq face serious safety risk, it said.

The ministry recalled that three Turkish citizens have recently been killed by kidnappers or in armed attacks, saying that "we implore God's mercy on these Turkish people and we offer our condolences to their families and relatives. the Turkish state will extend its helping hand to these families."

It said that a series of meetings took place in the Foreign Ministry with representatives of Turkish companies making business in Iraq and relevant state institutions' officials for betterment of safety conditions of their personnel in Iraq.

"As a result of these meetings, a series of additional security and logistic measures were determined regarding the areas of road security, safe transportation and secure storing and discharging places, alternative routes, personnel arrangements, cooperation with Iraqi authorities and insurance, assuring the minimizing of dangers and risks in Iraq. The Turkish government

will support implementation of these measures," it said.

Backgrounder: List of foreign hostages killed or held in Iraq

The Turkish Foreign Ministry said on Friday that three Turkish citizens had been held hostage and two others were reported missing in Iraq.

The ministry and other relevant state institutions have been mobilized to find and rescue those Turkish citizens, the ministry said in a statement. Several Iraqi groups have offered to help in the case.

Also on Friday, the Lebanese Foreign Ministry said that four Lebanese truck drivers were kidnapped on Thursday while driving on a road between Baghdad and Ramadi. It remains unclear who kidnapped them.

The following is a list of foreign hostages known or reportedly to have been killed or are still in captivity in Iraq.

2004:

April 8 -- Canadian Mohammed Rifat is kidnapped and still missing.

April 12 -- Jordanian Wael Mamduh is abducted in Basra and still missing.

April 14 -- Italian guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi is killed.

May 11 -- US civilian Nick Berg, missing since April 9, is beheaded. Militants with links to al-Qaeda claim responsibility.

June 5 -- Kuwaiti truck driver Saad Saadoun taking supplies to US troops is captured by a militant group called the Waqas Islami cBrigade.

June 7 -- Two Turks Tarkan Arikoglu and Adnan Azizoglu are seized in Fallujah, with Azizoglu being freed the next day.

June 10 -- Lebanese Hussein Ali Alyan is kidnapped along with two Iraqi colleagues. Their bodies are found on a road between Falluja and Ramadi on June 12.

June 17 -- South Korean Kim Sun-il is kidnapped in Falluja. He is beheaded on June 22. His captors are militants from Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad.

June 28 -- Al Jazeera shows a footage of what it claims is the killing of US soldier Keith Matthew Maupin. There is no confirmation that Maupin is the man killed.

July 13 -- A group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, with suspected links to al-Qaeda, kills one of two Bulgarian hostages Ivailo Kepov and Georgi Lazov. It threatens to kill the other within 24 hours unless US-led forces free prisoners.

July 17 -- Mohammed Omar, a Turkish oil tanker driver, is seized when his convoy of oil tanker trucks is attacked by men in four civilian cars northwest of Mosul, relatives say.

July 21 -- A military group calling itself the "Black Banners" says it has seized three Kenyans, three Indians and one Egyptian, all of whom are working for a Kuwaiti company. The group threatens to kill one hostage every three days if the company does not leave Iraq from 8 p.m. (1600 GMT) Wednesday.

July 26 -- An armed group says on a videotape they have kidnapped two Pakistanis and one Iraqi and threatens to kill the two Pakistanis.

July 26 -- A group, calling itself the Mujahideen Corps, says on a videotape that it will execute two kidnapped Jordanians in 72hours unless their Jordanian company stops doing business with the US military.

July 28 -- Al Jazeera television says Raja Azad Khan and Sajjad Naeem, two Pakistanis held by a group threatening to kill them, have been executed.

July 29 -- A militant group seizes Somali driver Ali Ahmed Mousa and threatens to behead him in 48 hours unless his Kuwaiti firm stops work in Iraq, Al Jazeera reports.

July 29 -- Kidnappers with the "Black Banners" holding seven foreign truck drivers hostage in Iraq threaten to kill one of the Indian hostages if they receive no response to their demands.

July 29 -- A militant group calling itself the Death Squad in Iraq says it is holding four Jordanian workers and calls on the Jordanian transport company to stop cooperation with the US forcesin Iraq.

July 31 -- A group linked to Jordanian-born al-Qaida militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi declares to have kidnapped two Turkish drivers in Iraq and threatens to behead them in 48 hours unless their company stops operation there.

Aug. 3 -- The Jordanian Foreign Ministry confirmed that anotherJordanian had been kidnapped in Iraq, bringing to seven the numberof Jordanian nationals held hostage in the neighboring country.

Aug. 4 -- The Jordanian Foreign Ministry confirmed said that four Jordanians kidnapped in Iraq were rescued, on Aug. 3 at the Iraqi city of Fallujah, by Iraqi tribesmen led by Sheikh Haj Ibrahim Jassam in a raid on the hideout of the abductors.

Aug. 5 -- A fifth Jordanian, businessman Adel Ubeidallah, were released in Baghdad, after his family made a ransom payment of 100,000 dollars to his captors.

Source: Xinhua