Kidnappers in Iraq have freed a Qatari and an Asian who were among more than 20 people abducted from a hunting party in the desert south last December, Qatar said on Wednesday.

Kidnappers in Iraq have freed a Qatari and an Asian who were among more than 20 people abducted from a hunting party in the desert south last December, Qatar said on Wednesday.

The foreign ministry gave no details on the identity of the Qatari released. Reports at the time of the kidnapping said that those seized included members of the emirate's ruling family.

The ministry announced "the release of a Qatari citizen and his Asian companion who were kidnapped in Iraq," in a short statement published on the official QNA news agency.

"Efforts are still ongoing to free the rest of the 26 kidnapped," the statement said, without elaborating.

The ministry did not specify the nationality of the Asian who was released, but Gulf hunting parties usually involve Afghans or Pakistanis.

The hostages were abducted in December when gunmen attacked their camp in an area of southern Iraq close to the Saudi border.

Nine members of the party managed to escape and cross into nearby Kuwait.
The hunting party was in Iraq on an officially licensed expedition and Doha has put pressure on the government in Baghdad to help secure the hostages' release.

Wealthy Gulf Arabs often brave the risks of travel to countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan as well as Iraq to hunt with falcons without the bag limits and conservation measures they face at home.