NEW DELHI, Aug. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Three Indians taken hostage by an Iraqi militant group completed their two weeks in captivity Tuesday with no apparent sign of when their ordeal would come to an end.

    "We haven't heard anything new. We are keeping our fingers crossed," the Indo-Asian News Service quoted Minister of State forExternal Affairs E. Ahamed as saying.

    Ahamed heads the Crisis Management Group, which has been working behind the scenes to defuse the crisis arising from the abduction of the three Indians.

    However, for the relatives of the three captives, Antaryami Bains and Tilak Raj of Una district of Himachal Pradesh state and Sukhdev Singh of Ropar in Punjab state in north India, Tuesday marked the beginning of another long day of agonizing waiting and prayers for their safe return.

    The only good news coming from Baghdad Monday was that the three were safe.

    Giving this reassuring news late Monday evening, Ahamed said the information was based on a statement the Kuwait Gulf Link (KGL)Company, employer of the three men, had made on television.

    "This is very reassuring news to us and to the family members of the hostages. We are still awaiting fresh developments," Ahamedsaid about reports that the Indian hostages were in good condition.

    The KGL statement said Sheikh Hisham Al-Dulaimi, appointed by the kidnappers as their negotiator, had confirmed to the company that the hostages were in good condition.

    An Iraqi militant group abducted the three Indians along with three Kenyans and an Egyptian on July 21. All seven are truck drivers working for KGL. Enditem