Hostage slaughtered - claim

2004-10-02 17:39

Iraq - A militant group in Iraq has claimed in a statement posted on the internet on Saturday that it kidnapped and slaughtered an Iraqi construction contractor working on a US military base.

The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.

The statement from the Ansar al-Sunnah Army said it had killed Barie Nafie Dawoud Ibrahim, who was described as "one of the biggest contractors" who had worked on water, sewage and air conditioning projects at the Al-Taji base north of Baghdad.

The same group has claimed responsibility for the killing of 12 Nepalese workers. The militant's website on August 31 showed 11 of the hostages being shot and one beheaded.

The Saturday statement said that after interrogation Ibrahim had "confessed to all the work and projects he had carried out at al-Taji ... after that the (holy fighters) executed God's law by slaughtering him".

More than 140 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since April by a spectrum of groups, with some holding them for ransom and others setting political conditions for their release. At least 26 hostages have been killed.

Many Iraqis have been kidnapped, mostly for ransom, and an unknown number working for Americans have been killed by different militant groups.

The statement said the group would track down those working for US troops "one after the other".

- AP