He added that the group informed Hamas during a 3-hour meeting that the Thais were not a party to the conflict and should be released, after which Hamas gave assurances that the Thais would be released first and unconditionally once a ceasefire was reached.
The truce is the first in the fighting that erupted more than 7 weeks ago after a Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages in Gaza.
Before the war, about 30,000 Thai workers worked in Israel’s agricultural sector, constituting one of the largest groups of migrant workers there.
Another member of the Thai group, veteran politician Aribin Uttarasin, said: "Our team was in the right place from the beginning by going to Iran and speaking directly with Hamas".
But a source familiar with the talks said that the hostage agreement was mediated by Qatar and Egypt as part of a negotiating process that began when the Thai Foreign Minister visited Qatar on October 31.
Iran also stated that it participated in facilitating the release, while Hamas said that the release came thanks to the efforts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday: "As for the remaining 15 Thai hostages, the Royal Thai Government continues to make every effort to release them safely as soon as possible.".
When asked about parallel efforts, Lierbong said: "My responsibility is to bring Thais home, and if (other governments) want to have a say, that’s fine. I think I accomplished my mission".
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Hamas released three Thai hostages from Gaza on Sunday, bringing the number of Thais released since the start of the four-day truce on Friday to 17.
“We were the only party that spoke to Hamas since the beginning of the war to demand the release of the Thais,” Lerpong Saeed, head of the Thai-Iranian Alumni Association, told Reuters.
Lierpong was among a group of Thai Muslims called for by Thai Parliament Speaker Wan Mohamed Noor Mata, which traveled to Tehran in October and held talks with Hamas representatives.
“If Thailand had relied solely on the Foreign Ministry or asked for help from other countries, the chances of them being released with the first group would have been very weak,” he added, adding that other countries with hostages such as the United States, Germany and France had more influence.
He added that the group informed Hamas during a 3-hour meeting that the Thais were not a party to the conflict and should be released, after which Hamas gave assurances that the Thais would be released first and unconditionally once a ceasefire was reached.
The truce is the first in the fighting that erupted more than 7 weeks ago after a Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people and took about 240 hostages in Gaza.
Before the war, about 30,000 Thai workers worked in Israel’s agricultural sector, constituting one of the largest groups of migrant workers there.
Another member of the Thai group, veteran politician Aribin Uttarasin, said: “Our team went to the right place from the beginning by going to Iran and speaking directly with Hamas.”
But a source familiar with the talks said that the hostage agreement was mediated by Qatar and Egypt as part of a negotiating process that began when the Thai Foreign Minister visited Qatar on October 31.
Iran also stated that it participated in facilitating the release, while Hamas said that the release came thanks to the efforts of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Monday: “With regard to the remaining 15 Thai hostages, the Royal Thai government continues to make all efforts to release them safely as soon as possible.”
When asked about parallel efforts, Lierpong said: “My responsibility is to bring Thais home, and if (other governments) want to have a say that’s fine. I think I’ve accomplished my mission.”
#group #Thai #Muslims #negotiations #Hamas #led #release #hostages
2023-11-27 08:41:03
