Iraqi kidnappers set to release Turkish hostages: Ankara

Ankara: Islamist militants who kidnapped 49 Turks at a Turkish consulate in northern Iraq in June will likely free them in the next day or two, Turkey`s Defence Minister Ismet Yilmaz said Saturday. "We are pursuing contacts with all parties in Iraq. They (the hostages) may come back tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," Yilmaz said, quoted by the Dogan news agency.

Fighters from the jihadist group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) -- later renamed Islamic State -- kidnapped 49 Turks, including diplomats and children, from the Turkish consulate in Mosul on June 12 as they captured swathes of northern Iraq.