Doha: Prime Minister of Qatar Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al-Thani thanked the efforts of the Iraqi government in dealing with the kidnapping of Qatari citizens in Iraq.
The Qatari prime minister expressed his hope of securing the release of the Qatari citizens as soon as possible, reported Gulf Times.
Iraqi Prime Minister al-Abadi assured his Qatari counterpart that security agency was working on releasing the Qatari citizens.
Earlier, about 100 gunmen had kidnapped at least 26 Qataris from their hunting camp in a sprawling desert area near the Saudi borders on Wednesday, the regional governor and police officials said.
The kidnapped Qataris include a young prince, NBC News had reported on Wednesday.
Two police officers in Samawa confirmed the kidnappings and said security forces launched a wide-scale search for the Qataris.
"An armed group driving dozens of pickup trucks kidnapped at least 26 Qatari hunters from their camp in the area of Busaya in Samawa desert near Saudi borders," Samawa governor Falih al-Zayady said.
Hunters from various Gulf states often travel to the area at this time of year for hunting.
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