KGL, the Kuwaiti company whose seven employees, including three Indians, were taken hostage almost a month ago, has said the situation in Iraq has worsened, putting negotiations on the backburner. Communication has broken down as US forces have launched an assault and indefinite curfew has been imposed, it said.KGL’s manpower planning manager Rana Abu-Zaineh told The Indian Express: ‘‘It is very critical now. Bombing and curfews have delayed operations. The KGL hostage problem is not the priority anymore.’’The protracted negotiations, involving Sheikh Dulaimi, seem to have hit a wall. ‘‘It’s a quiet situation now for the past few days. Our good Iraqi friends are trying to talk to the kidnappers, but there is no information so far,’’ Zaineh said. Still waiting for the kidnappers to name a negotiator, KGL sought to assure that lack of breakthroughs in the crisis does not translate into failure. ‘‘We don’t like the word helpless,’’ said Zaineh. ‘‘We are slow now, but haven’t failed. We still hope to get those seven drivers out of Iraq.’’
