Australia joins alliance pledging action on hostages

Representatives of the United States and six allied nations, including Australia, have pledged to work together to counteract global hostage and arresting arrests.

“We are united in our demand for the immediate and unconditional liberation of all hostages,” said the alliance in a joint statement on Tuesday after the conversations in Montana.

The special envoy of the United States, Adam Boehler, led the conversations on Monday and Tuesday in Big Sky, Montana, with counterparts from Australia, Austria, Canada, Germany, Israel and the United Kingdom.

They discussed information about detainees and other collaboration efforts to free their citizens worldwide.

“We will not save any effort, according to international law, to bring hostages home and detained unfairly or arbitrarily to individuals and to deter such future acts,” the statement said, without providing details.

Boehler, who was involved in efforts that led to the freedom of the American school teacher Marc Fogel de Russia last month, said in a statement that the meeting focused on “how to support individual freedom and stop the hostages that try to carry it.”

The group promised to work collectively to “identify and display all diplomatic, economic and strategic tools at our disposal to take these people home while disadvanticing such acts,” said an official of the United States Department of State.

A last August report from the James W Foley Legacy Foundation said at least 43 American nationals were detained or unfairly detained in 16 countries around the world.

In addition to these people, US officials are working to obtain the release of many others considered unfairly detained worldwide, even in China, Russia, Venezuela, Afghanistan and other places.

The state department official said that President Donald Trump has made a priority take Americans home.

“Anyone who participates in these practices realizes that the United States is prioritizing to recover our people. At the same time, we are looking for collective measures with our partners that can be taken to carry,” said the official.