Royals among Qataris kidnapped by gunmen in Iraq

Ahmed Jamal, a spokesman for the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, said the government was working with security forces to track the kidnappers.

“All of those kidnapped are Qatari and a number of members of the ruling family in Qatar are among them”, said Faleh al Zayadi, the governor of Muthanna province.

Dozens of Qatari hunters – including members of the royal family – have been kidnapped by armed men in Iraq. Qatar’s deputy foreign minister for political affairs is expected to arrive in Baghdad on Thursday, he said.

Turkey, which like Qatar is at odds with various Iraqi groups over regional issues, had 18 of its citizens abducted in Iraq in early September.

“Those hunters were moving on large scale in the desert without committing to the Ministry of Interior measures of not crossing to specific areas which aren’t secured”, a ministry statement said.

It added that the hunters entered Iraq on an official permit from the Iraqi interior ministry and in co-ordination with the Iraqi Embassy in Doha.

Samawah is located on the Euphrates River, about 370 kilometers (230 miles) southeast of the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

It is not uncommon for wealthy Gulf state citizens to participate in hunting trips to countries such as Iraq, where regulations aren’t as strict.

There is significant hostility in Iraq, especially in the Shiite-majority south, over the Gulf countries’ policies on the Syrian civil war and perceived complicity in the rise of the Islamic State group. The number of kidnappers and their affiliation was unknown, the officials said.

The attackers were driving “about 50” four-wheel drive vehicles when they swept into the hunters’ camp at dawn on Wednesday, an Iraqi source told the BBC’s Arabic service.