Iraq: Another American seized

2004-11-04 14:28

Baghdad - Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese-American businessman - the second United States citizen seized this week in Baghdad - and militants released a tape showing the beheading of an Iraqi officer as a warning to those who deal with "the infidel" Americans.

An unknown group claimed it beheaded three Iraqi National Guardsmen.

The escalating violence served as grim reminder of Iraq's rapidly deteriorating security situation, which President Bush must address now that he has won his long electoral contest against Senator John Kerry, who conceded defeat on Wednesday.

Radim Sadeq, an American of Lebanese origin who worked for a mobile phone company, was grabbed about midnight on Tuesday when he answered the door of his home in Baghdad's upscale Mansour neighbourhood, officials said. No group claimed responsibility.

170 kidnappings

It was the second abduction this week in Mansour, where many foreign companies are based. On Monday, gunmen stormed the two-story compound of a Saudi company, abducting six people, including an unidentified American, a Nepalese, a Filipino and three Iraqis, two of whom were later released. No claim has been made for the kidnappings.

More than 170 foreigners have been kidnapped and more than 30 of them killed in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's regime fell in April last year. At least six of the foreigners were beheaded by followers of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian militant who has sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda.

As the wave of abductions continues, another militant group, the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, posted a videotape on a website Wednesday showing the beheading of man it said was an Iraqi army major captured in the northern city of Mosul.

A statement by the group called Major Hussein Shanoun an "apostate" and said he confessed to taking part in attacks against insurgents on orders of the Americans.

Just before his death, the victim was shown warning Iraqi soldiers and police soldiers against "dealing with the infidel troops," meaning the Americans.

In another video, aired on Wednesday on Al-Jazeera television, a previously unknown group calling itself the Brigades of Iraq's Honorables said it beheaded three Iraqi National Guards, accusing them of spying for the Americans.

The broadcast showed three men holding up what appeared to be army identification cards sitting in front of a hooded man who read a statement. The video also showed the beheading of the three men, but the network declined to air that footage, the Al-Jazeera newscaster said.

On Wednesday, Hungary's prime minister said the country will withdraw its 300 non-combat troops by the end of March. Hungary had agreed to extend their deployment from an original deadline of December 31 so they could help maintain security during elections in January.

- AP