Zwei Amis und ein Brite in Terroristenhänden

--- Al-Dschasira ist nun also ein Video mit den brutal entführten Ausländern in Bagdad zugespielt worden: An armed group in Iraq has threatened to kill two Americans and a British man held captive unless female prisoners in Abu Ghraib and Um Qasr prisons are released within 48 hours. In an exclusive video aired by Aljazeera on Saturday, the captives appeared blindfolded and surrounded by hooded armed men. The captives appeared to be giving details of who they were, but their voices could not be heard clearly. They wore normal clothes and appeared to be in good health. The captors described themselves as al-Tawhid and al-Jihad group, which reportedly has links with suspected al-Qaida operative Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. ... US nationals Jack Hensley and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong and British engineer Kenneth Bigley were seized by armed men early on Thursday from their house in Baghdad's upscale al-Mansur district. All three work for GSCS, a United Arab Emirates-based firm that has won several building contracts in Iraq.   The kidnapping of the three men was the latest in a string of high-profile abductions of Westerners in Iraq. Two French journalists were abducted almost a month ago while two Italian female aid workers, along with two of their Iraqi colleagues, were seized from their offices on 7 September. Die Firma ASCS/GSCS hat inzwischen auch ein sehr kurzes Statement zu der Entführung auf ihrer Website. Mehr zu dem sich entwickelnden Entführungsmarkt im Irak in Telepolis.

Update: Zehn weitere Geisel befinden sich laut al-Dschasira inzwischen in den Händen der Gotteskrieger: An Iraqi group calling itself Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq Brigades has claimed to have abducted 10 employees from an "American-Turkish" company operating in Iraq. The group threatened in a videotape obtained by Aljazeera, to kill the captives if the company failed to cease operations and pull out of Iraq within three days. Insurgents opposed to what they see as a US-led occupation of Iraq have regularly targeted contractors working for foreign forces to put pressure on their governments.

Update2: Die neue Site von Tahid wal Dschihad, auf der auch die Geisel-Videos zu sehen sind, ist laut Internet Haganah in Japan untergekommen.