Two Macedonians, kidnapped near the southern Iraqi city of Basra last week, were released on Monday, according to news reaching Tirana from the Macedonian capital of Skopje.

Macedonia Information Agency quoted Ecolog, the company that employs the two Macedonians, as saying that the two men, Faruk Ademi and Rasim Ramadani, were feeling fine and would contact their families soon.

"This is a happy moment for all of us. Our two colleagues are released and they are now among us. I can't wait for Rasim and Faruk to join their families," company owner Nazif Destani was quoted as saying by telephone from Iraq in a statement.

It is not known whether a ransom had been paid for their release following the kidnapping on Thursday. There have been four cases of abduction of Ecolog employees, all of whom were released after ransoms had been paid.

Ecolog, which has a cleaning contract at the British-controlled Basra International Airport, is an international company registered and based in Germany. It also has an office in Tetovo, Macedonia. More than 1,000 Macedonians work in Iraq as contractors for Ecolog.

(Xinhua News Agency February 21, 2006)