Al-Qaida threatens to execute Sudanese hostages in Iraq

Al-Qaida organization in Iraq threatened to execute five Sudanese who were kidnapped in Iraq, and al-Qaida organization in Iraq announced their kidnapping in a statement on the Internet.

The organization said it will execute the five Sudanese including the second secretary at Sudan's embassy in Baghdad within 48 hours if Sudan does not sever its relations with what was the statement described as "the Green Zone government, and closing the headquarters of the embassy and pulling out its representatives to the government of the 'non believers'," in remarks to the Iraqi government led by Ibrahim al-Jaafari.

The organization's statement was coupled with a video tape showing the five men calling on their government to respond to the demands set by the kidnappers. One of the hostages after he had introduced himself as the second secretary at the Sudanese embassy in Baghdad called on the Sudanese government to respond to the request of the Iraqi resistance.

In another development concerning the hostages in Iraq, the Lebanese foreign ministry announced the kidnapping of engineer Kamil Nasif Tannous on Thursday afternoon. The Lebanese ministry indicated that there are contacts underway to ensure the release of the said engineer who works for a western company together with other Lebanese hostages. The ministry also announced the release of the Lebanese hostage Asaad Hussein.

In Paris, the French foreign minister Philip Doust Balazi called on the kidnappers to release the French hostage Bernard Balash, noting that his country did not deploy any forces in Iraq and had always called for restoring back its sovereignty.

Meantime, the American army announced the killing of one of its soldiers east of the Iraqi capital in a bomb explosion.