India sends hostage envoy to Iraq

A video showed a gun being pointed at one of the Indian hostages

An Indian diplomat is going to Iraq to try to free three Indian hostages whom militants are threatening to kill.

But Delhi did not confirm reports that the rebels had extended by 24 hours - until 1500 GMT on Saturday - a deadline to start executing the hostages.

The militants have warned the men will die if the Kuwaiti firm that employs them does not pull out of Iraq.

Earlier, 32 foreign tourists in India were held up in protests at Delhi's inability to free the hostages.

Arabic speaker

The Delhi government has sent senior diplomat Talmiz Ahmad to help negotiate the release of its nationals.

Mr Ahmad, currently the Indian ambassador to Oman, is an Arabic speaker and has previously served in Iraq and Kuwait.

When the deadline expired I died one million times Ram Das, grand uncle of hostage

The lorry drivers were seized by the militants 10 days ago, along with three Kenyans and an Egyptian.

A video on Thursday showed a masked kidnapper pointing a gun at the head of one of the hostages.

Militants have stepped up a campaign of hostage-taking in Iraq to force foreign troops and companies to leave.

Earlier in the week, a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq killed two Pakistanis - the first Muslim hostages in Iraq to be executed by their captors.

Reuters news agency reports that talks began on Saturday between an Iraqi mediator and a representative of the Indians' employer, the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company, to try to secure their release.

Angry villagers

In the home village of Indian hostage Antaryami Bain in the Una area of northern Himachal Pradesh state, angry residents blocked traffic - demanding the government do more to secure the men's freedom.

As tension mounted in the area, police escorted 32 foreign tourists stuck in a traffic jam caused by the protest to a nearby temple for safety.

"When the deadline expired I died one million times. People are terribly agitated... but it looks like our protests are working: India is sending an envoy," said Ram Das, grand uncle of one of the hostages.

The seven hostages are being held by a little-known group calling itself the "black banners" brigade of the "Islamic Secret Army".

Some three million Indians are said to be working in the Gulf region and an estimated 100,000 in Iraq.