KATHMANDU, Aug. 23 (Xinhuanet) -- The Nepali Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday evening that 13 Nepalese workers have been taken hostage by an Iraqi militant group.

    The 13 Nepalese are purely working in Iraq, and they have no connections with any political groups or foreign countries, the ministry said in a statement.

    The ministry urged the Iraqi militant group who abducted the Nepalese workers not to hurt them.

    According to a Xinhua report reaching here from Baghdad last Friday, about a dozen Nepalese workers may have been taken captivein Iraq by a shadowy Islamic group.

    A group of mujahedeen (Islamic fighters) abducted those Nepalese workers on the night of Aug. 19-20, accusing them of assisting the US troops in Iraq, Xinhua quoted a statement posted on an Islamic website as saying. Enditem