'Some people here know the truth, but they are too cowardly to disclose it...'

Mukhtar Ahmad in Srinagar

This time it is not sympathy their visit has generated in the Kashmir valley, but a sort of animosity.

First time since the hostage drama started, the visit of the abducted foreigners's relatives has put many locals's backs up -- they feel the relatives' comments were uncalled for.

"Some people here know the truth. But they are either too cowardly to disclose it, or else it suits them not to," a bitter Bob Wells, father of one of the hostages, had said.

On July 5, 1995, Paul Wells, Keith Manigan, Donald Hutchings and Dirk Hasert were abducted by the militant outfit Al-Faran from Pahalgam in south Kashmir. They have been in captivity ever since.

Their relatives -- Wells, Julie, Catherine and James -- had arrived on April 17 to appeal to the locals and militant leaders for information.

For the first time, the relatives directly accused the Harkat-ul-Ansar, which has all along denied involvement, of masterminding the abduction.

Meanwhile, the frontline pro-Pakistan militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, issued a statement saying 'the truth in the hostage crisis should be immediately disclosed as the issue has been dragging on for two years now'. It claimed certain vested interests were tying to derive mileage from the ensuing suspense. 'If they are alive then they should be released unharmed,' the statement said.