Three Kurds beheaded, threats to kill 13 hostages including two Americans, one Britain
One armed group yesterday announced the beheading of three Kurdish "rebels" from Masoud al-Barazani party and threatened to behead other 10 hostages, announced as kidnapped on Saturday, if the American-Turkish company in which they work will not withdraw from Iraq and the beheading of the two Americans and the one Britain if the occupation forces will not release all women prisoners in its jails.
Meantime, the Iraqi foreign minister Hoshyar Zeibari said that the policy pursued by the Iraqi government is not to "negotiate" with the holders of the hostages because this will "constitute a very bad precedence." He criticized the Philippines because it abided by the demands of the kidnappers, noting that its position "encouraged these groups which consider that holding hostages is a means to affect options and policies. " In a statement issued on the Internet on "Ansar al-Sunnah" website, the kidnappers said that the beheaded three members of the Kurdistani Democratic party led by Masoud al-Barazani over their collaboration with the American forces.
The statement added that they were killed "to be an example and to revenge for our women, children and the elderly who are dying daily by the American raids." A tape was seen on the website showing a man beheading the hostages one by one and then put their heads on their stretched bodies.
The Iraqi police announced yesterday it carried out an operation in collaboration with the Iraqi national guards near al-Nasereyah in which it freed the Jordanian Ala' Thabet Lazem who had been kidnapped since one month in Iraq.
The Italian daily "La Republica" yesterday quoted sources at the American intelligence that the two kidnapped Italian hostages might be held by al-Zarqawi.
The Iraqi deputy foreign minister Hamid al-Bayati said that Simona Bari and Simona Torita "might be held by al-Zarqawi group." He added "the information we own indicate they were kidnapped by criminal elements who had possibly sold them to al-Zarqawi group."