New Photos, Tapes of Westerners Held Captive in India Released

The government here released recent photographs Wednesday of four Western hostages held by Kashmiri separatists and a tape recording of the captives saying they are alive and well.

The captives all looked healthy in the photographs, even though the Al Faran separatist group had released earlier photos showing two of them wearing bloody bandages and a statement saying they had been wounded in a battle with Indian forces.

The captives--an American, two Britons and a German--said the photographs and interviews were taken Friday, five days after the decapitated body of a fifth hostage, Hans Christian Ostro, 27, of Oslo, was found in a village in Kashmir.

Last week, government officials--who have been negotiating with the captors since the kidnapings began July 4--asked Al Faran to provide proof that the men were alive and in good health.

The guerrillas have threatened to kill the captives unless India frees 15 of their jailed comrades, a demand India has repeatedly rejected.

Dozens of Muslim militant groups have been fighting for Kashmir’s secession from India since 1989, and nearly 12,000 people have been killed in the struggle. The state of Jammu and Kashmir is the only one with a Muslim majority in India, a Hindu-dominated country.

Before the kidnapings, Indian officials had not heard of Al Faran.