Iraq hostage crisis sparks fresh violence in India

Angry villagers smashed windshields of buses and trucks in north India on Saturday when the vehicles tried to break a highway blockade imposed in protest against the kidnapping of three Indians in Iraq.
About 500 protesters threw stones at the vehicles and used iron rods to smash their glass panes in Dehlan village, home of Antaryami, one of three Indian truck drivers held hostage by Iraqi militants, witnesses said.
District authorities said the trouble started when more than a dozen vehicles, some of them stranded since Thursday, tried to force their way out of the blockade.
District administrator Sanjay Sharma told reporters several people had suffered minor injuries before police brought the situation under control.
Saturday's violence came as an Iraqi mediator began talks in Baghdad with a representative of the Kuwaiti employer of the drivers to try free the hostages.
On Friday, hundreds of men blocked traffic across the region and enforced a day-long general strike in protest against New Delhi's failure to win the release of the hostages.
The deadline of 1500 GMT on Friday passed with no word from the kidnappers who had threatened to kill one of the seven men unless negotiations for their release got under way.
Three Kenyans and an Egyptian, employed along with the Indians, are among the hostages of an Iraqi group that calls itself the "Black Banners" brigade of the Islamic Secret Army.
Earlier on Saturday, India's junior foreign minister said New Delhi believed that the kidnappers had extended their deadline until Saturday evening.
"We have been given to understand through local media in the region that the deadline has been extended by 24 hours by the hostage takers," Edappakath Ahamed said in a statement.
He said the Indian envoy to Oman was being sent to Baghdad to help secure the release of the men who were seized this month.
The militants want the Kuwaiti employer of the seven drivers to stop doing business in Iraq. They also want financial compensation for the victims of fighting and air strikes in the city of Falluja.
India has no troops in Iraq, but hundreds of Indians have gone there to work - many as support staff, including chefs, kitchen assistants, accountants and bus drivers for the US military.