Four Egyptians kidnapped

2005-02-07 20:18

Baghdad, - Gunmen waylaid a minibus carrying foreign technicians to their jobs at a mobile telephone company in western Baghdad, seizing four Egyptians in the second kidnapping of foreigners in the Iraqi capital within a week.

North of the capital, a US soldier from Task Force Baghdad was killed and two others were wounded on Sunday in a roadside bombing, the US command said.

Two rockets also exploded near Baghdad International Airport and a third slammed into an Iraqi national guard building in a western suburb. No casualties were reported.

The violence and kidnappings raise new concerns about security following a brief downturn in violence after the elections.

The four Egyptians were seized early on Sunday near the Mansour district of western Baghdad, Egyptian and Iraqi officials said. They worked for Iraqna, a subsidiary of the Egyptian firm Orascom Telecommunications, which operates the mobile phone network in Baghdad and central Iraq.

Six other Egyptians working for Iraqna were kidnapped in two separate incidents in September. All were ultimately freed although Orascom said at the time that it was committed to continuing its work in Iraq.

No group claimed responsibility for the latest abduction.

On Friday, Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was kidnapped by gunmen who blocked her car outside Baghdad University. Sgrena, 56, is a veteran reporter for the communist daily Il Manifesto.

Her colleagues appealed on Sunday to her captors to free her, citing the journalist's anti-American stance and saying that holding her would damage the image of Iraq.

"Her articles in Il Manifesto have always expressed opposition to the occupation war led by the United States," her colleagues said in a statement to Al-Jazeera television.

"Keeping her captive and hurting her would amount to seriously damaging the cause of Iraq before the eyes of the world."

A group calling itself the Islamic Jihad Organization claimed Friday to have kidnapped the woman and gave Italy 72 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq. But it made no threats to kill her or say what would happen if its demands were not met.

The purported kidnappers said in a statement posted on Sunday on the Internet that they still were interrogating Sgrena and had given Rome a final warning to withdraw its troops from the country.

Sunday's statement, released in the same group's name, described Sgrena as an "Italian POW," and said her fate "will be announced by us in the near future".

The statement could not be verified and did not elaborate on her possible fate.

Earlier on Sunday, a message appeared online that was signed by the Jihad Organization. It threatened to kill Sgrena by Monday unless Italy agrees to withdraw its troops.

It wasn't clear if both statements came from the same group. Neither statement included a picture of the woman or other evidence to support the claims.

- AP