By Navin Singh Khadka BBC correspondent in Kathmandu

Jit Bahadur Khadka could not believe his son was dead

Ever since the first images of the hostages pleading for their lives was aired on television last week, most Nepalis have followed the news closely.

They had hoped the men would be released, especially after appeals made by the government and religious leaders in Iraq.

Many here could not believe the hostages had been killed as they felt the kidnappers would understand that the Nepalis had travelled to Iraq in search of work and not for any military role.

No-one has been devastated more than the families of the victims, who also believed their relatives would return home.

Disbelief

Some refused to accept the news.

"Why should I believe this news when my son had not gone there to do anything wrong?" said Ram Narayan Thakur, whose son, Manoj Kumar Thakur, was one of the hostages.

Jitini Devi, who is widowed, has been delirious ever since she heard news of the death of her son, Sanjay Kumar Thakur.

"I am robbed," were the only words she uttered when she learned the only earning member of her family had been killed.

Ramesh Khadka's mother fainted at the news

In a village in Lalitpur, in a district adjoining the capital Kathmandu, Jit Bahadur Khadka, father of another of the hostages, Ramesh Khadka, has been beating his chest and pouring out his grief.

"How could you depart like that, son? You did not even make a single phone call to us," he said.

His eldest son, Sudarshan Khadka, has been trying to comfort them. But he loses patience at times and blames the government.

"It all happened because of the government's indifference. They did not take necessary steps to try to release the hostages," he said.

Anger

Many share that feeling.

"The fact that the government did not send any minister to Iraq to deal with the issue shows that it was never serious about the entire episode," says Rushtam Shrestha, a Kathmandu businessman.

I feel the kidnappers killed Nepalese hostages because they are from a poor country Tikaram Acharya Studen

"If it had guts, it should have been able to talk to the kidnappers," another resident, Prem Nepali, says.

But anger is also directed at the kidnappers for picking people who were most vulnerable.

"I feel the kidnappers killed Nepalese hostages because they are from a poor country. That is the fate of the poor people wherever they go," a student, Tikaram Acharya, said.

Others, like Kavita Roshani Gautam, felt the killings had forced people to focus on what compels Nepalese workers to travel to places as risky as Iraq.

"More Nepalis are getting killed in Nepal every day and it is this unfortunate state of affairs that has compelled Nepalis to end up in places like Iraq."

The government had long banned Nepalese citizens from going to Iraq.

But, increasing numbers of Nepalese workers have been travelling there illegally.

Some reached Iraq with the help of Nepalese agents operating illegally while others first went to the Indian city of Bombay (Mumbai ), from where they headed to Iraq.