Qatar, a sovereign Arab country located in Western Asia, is working to help free four Americans held hostage in Syria by various armed groups, a Gulf source familiar with the matter said on Monday, a day after the Gulf Arab state's diplomacy helped free journalist Theo Curtis held since 2012, according to Reuters.
The source declined to name the four or provide details, and Reuters could not independently verify the assertion, but his account was broadly supported by other sources.
A Doha-based source close to the Qatari government said without elaborating that Washington was working with Qatar to try to free a number of U.S. hostages in Syria, Reuters reported.
The reported initiative by Qatar coincides with an effort by the tiny state to rebut accusations by some of its Arab neighbors and Western politicians that it supports the most anti-Western militant armed groups in Iraq and Syria, according to Reuters.
Those allegations followed months of criticism by human rights groups over its treatment of Asian guest workers and charges, denied by Doha, of corruption in its successful bid to host the 2022 World Cup, Reuters reported.
The wealthy country, which does back some rebel factions fighting to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has mediated the release of foreign and Syrian captives on several occasions in the course of Syria's three-year-old civil war, according to Reuters.
Its latest foray into hostage diplomacy brought Sunday's release of Peter Theo Curtis, an American held for nearly two years by al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al Qaeda, Reuters reported.
"Four other Americans who have gone missing in Syria have now been located, and Qatar is working to free them," the Gulf source told Reuters on condition of anonymity, according to Reuters. He said the hostages were being held by "various groups" but declined to give details.
