The two hostages: Raja Azad Khan (top) and Sajjad Naeem. (AFP)

Islamabad, July 29: Wails of anguish and anger rose from the homes of the Pakistani hostages killed in Iraq.

“Pervez Musharraf got my son killed,” sobbed the mother of Sajjad Naeem, one of the two dead men. “Had he announced that he would not send troops to Iraq, my son would not have been killed.”

Both hostages, Raja Azad Khan, 49, and Sajjad Naeem, 29, hailed from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Other relatives of the slain hostages and Opposition parties have accused the government of dragging its feet over sending troops to Baghdad — the hostage-takers had demanded that Pakistan guarantee it would not send troops. Many Pakistanis believe the hostages might not have been killed if Islamabad had categorically ruled out sending troops.

Pakistan has advised its citizens working in Iraq to pull out and has also said nationals planning to visit the country for pilgrimage to places like Karbala should defer their plans.

Al Jazeera television said late yesterday it had received a video from the group, which calls itself the Islamic Army, showing the killings of Khan, an engineer, and Naeem, a driver, but would not air it as it was too gruesome.

Both were employed by a Kuwaiti branch of the Saudi Al Tamimi group which does work in Iraq for US firm Kellogg, Brown and Root, a contractor to the US military. They went missing last week.

The kidnappers seized an Iraqi along with the Pakistanis and threatened to kill all hostages if their employer did not halt operations in Iraq. But the Iraqi was freed after he “recanted”.

The abductors had asked Pakistan to guarantee it would not send troops to Iraq, saying “statements by President Musharraf indicating a possibility of deploying troops is a justification for the killing two hostages”.

Makhdoom Amin Fahim of the Pakistan People’s Party today said the killings reflect Iraqi anger at recent Pakistani announcements that it was considering despatching troops.

Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan said the killings had devastated the victims’ families and the Pakistani nation.

“We strongly condemn these brutal murders. The captors have committed a crime against humanity, against Islam and against the people of Pakistan and… Iraq,” he said.

“No reason, no cause could have justified killing of these poor migrant workers,” Khan added.

The National Assembly adopted a resolution today, expressing grief over the killings. Opposition parties demanded a debate on the issue.