Nepal’s president asks visiting Qatari emir to help free student held hostage by Hamas

By BINAJ GURUBACHARYA
Associated Press

KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Officials say Nepal’s president asked the emir of Qatar, who is on a two-day visit to the South Asian country, to help release a Nepali student held hostage by Palestinian militant group Hamas. President Ram Chandra Poudel met with Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani Wednesday at the president’s house in the capital, Kathmandu. Al Thani said he would do everything possible to help release Bipin Joshi, the Nepali president’s press advisor, told The Associated Press. Joshi was among 17 Nepali students studying agriculture in Alumim kibbutz, near the Gaza Strip, when Hamas attacked Southern Israel on Oct.7. The emir also discussed the conditions of an estimated 400,000 Nepali migrant workers residing in Qatar.