Hostages 'won't work for US'

2004-07-02 19:29

Baghdad - Masked gunmen in Iraq said they had released two Turkish hostages on Friday after relatives pleaded for their freedom and the cowering pair promised never to work for the "filthy" Americans again.

A Pakistani threatened with beheading by his captors was also set free, according to his family.

The releases capped a good week for the newly sovereign Iraq, after the freeing on Tuesday of three other Turks held by an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group, hours before their threatened decapitation.

But, a dire warning from the gunmen that they would not be so merciful next time struck a worrying note for the scores of foreign companies working on United States-funded reconstruction projects in Iraq.

Islamists here have beheaded two hostages - South Korean Kim Sun-Il and American Nicholas Berg - in the past two months.

Terrified-looking pair on the floor

A Turkish diplomat in Baghdad confirmed the two hostages had been freed: "It happened this morning. They are in good condition."

Murat Kizil, 26, and Soner Sercali, 27, who worked for Turkish firm Kayteks repairing air conditioners in the northern oil centre of Kirkuk before their disappearance in early June, were finally on their way home, said the diplomat.

Video footage released by the hostage-takers showed the terrified-looking pair squatting on the floor at an undisclosed location in front of two armed men as they promised not to work on US contracts in Iraq.

The two each made a short statement to the camera in Turkish before one of the captors, dressed in a long white robe with his face shrouded in a black-and-white headscarf, read out a statement explaining the group's decision to free them.

"We have warned people against assisting the occupation forces in Iraq, especially the filthy United States forces," the militant said in the video, dropped off anonymously at the Reuters news agency in Baghdad.

He said his men had decided to show mercy on this occasion, in part because of "the pleas of the captives' families, the promises of the two captives not to do such work again and their promise to help the company to withdraw from Iraq."

But he warned that the next time they would carry out their threats.

Third hostage also set free

"If this were to happen again, by the same company or by another one, we swear to God that we will not show mercy," said the hostage-taker, with a rifle slung over his shoulder and a handgun attached to his belt.

A third hostage - Amjad Hafeez of Pakistan - also had a lucky escape after his captors decided to set him free, said his family.

The 26-year-old, who had been working as a driver for a US company ferrying food from Kuwait to neighbouring Iraq, was captured in Balad, 75km north of Baghdad, on Sunday.

- AFP