Sri Lankan truck driver Dinesh Rajaratnam taken hostage in Iraq in October has been released together with his Bangladeshi colleague by their captors, official Daily News said Saturday.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Himali Arunatilleke said Rajaratnam is now with the Sri Lankan representative in Lebanon and was unhurt at the time of his release. However, she declined to disclose more details in view of security reason.

"We have informed his family of his release," she said, adding that arrangements will be made to bring him home shortly.

Rajaratnam and his colleague, both truck drivers, were taken hostage by an Iraqi militant group, known as the Islamic Army, on Oct. 28 en route to a US base, she added.

The 37-year-old Rajaratnam from the Colombo suburb of Wattala departed for Kuwait in June 2003 and later proceeded to Iraq through his Kuwait employer.

The Foreign Ministry has warned Sri Lankan nationals not to travel to Iraq soon after the US led offensive in Iraq began in March 2003.

Source: Xinhua