On the file of hostages in Iraq
Iraq, Politics, 9/18/2004

Regarding the kidnappings and hostages, an Iraqi security official said that gunmen released a Syrian truck driver they had kidnapped on the road between al-Musil and Karkouk. He added that the driver, Ammar Daqmaq, notified the police that the kidnappers released him because they consider that Syria supports Iraq.

The Swedish foreign ministry announced that three Swedish citizens of Iraqi origin might have been kidnapped in three separate incidents in Iraq during the two past weeks, denying that it has details on the kidnapping operations.

Concerning the two Italian hostages, the Italian Dela Seira paper said that Simona Bari and Simona Torita were transported to a certain place in Falluja after spending a while in a house near Abu Ghreib prison in Baghdad.

The paper said that this information was relayed by the intelligence of certain country to the Italian authorities and was confirmed by the Kurdish leader Jalal al-Talibani in an interview to the Italian " Panorama " magazine.

Meantime, al-Ahwal group, the military wing of the Iraqi secret Islamic party threatened to kill the two Australians unless Australia withdraw its forces from Iraq within 24 hours. this was in a statement issued four days ago.

Because of the deteriorated security conditions in Iraq, the German foreign ministry urged yesterday some 100 Germans in Iraq to leave it urgently because of the increasing risks of the occurrence of kidnapping operations there and attacks against foreigners working there. The ministry also reiterated a warning it had issued in 2003 asking the Germans not to travel to Iraq.

In order to withstand the security difficulties, the British defense office secretary Jeff Houn said on the sideline of a meeting for the European union ministers of defense that his country is ready to send more forces to Iraq if it is necessary, to ensure the elections due to be held in January 2005.

Previous Stories:
  Three Iraqi truck drivers were assassinated, two Americans, one British were kidnapped in Baghdad   (9/17/2004)
  Three American soldiers were killed in Iraq   (9/17/2004)
  State's Armitage says Iraqi judges vital to Iraq's democracy   (9/16/2004)

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