Qatar: Al-Thani hostage release

One un-named member of the Qatari royal family, along with a Pakistani national, was released by kidnappers in Iraq nearly four months after being taken captive while on a hunting trip, it was announced on 13 April. They were among more than 20 people abducted from a desert hunting party close to the Saudi border last December. According to a statement published on the official Qatar News Agency, “efforts are still ongoing to free the rest of the 26 kidnapped”.