$4m ransom paid for Italians
2004-06-27 22:55
London - A $4m ransom was paid for the release of three Italian hostages in Iraq in April, after a fourth hostage was executed, according to an interview of one of the alleged kidnappers in Britain's Sunday Times newspaper.
Abu Yussuf, an Iraqi Sunnite who claims to be one of the kidnappers, denied the official version of events, according to which the men were freed in a joint operation by Italian secret services and coalition forces in Iraq, without a ransom being involved.
The Italian government reiterated on Sunday that no ransom had ever been paid to free the hostages.
Salvatore Stefio, 34, Umberto Cupertino, 35, and Maurizio Agliana, 37, all employees of a security firm in Iraq, were kidnapped in mid-April and held until June 8, when they were freed along with a Polish hostage.
A fourth Italian, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, was executed days after his abduction in what his killers described as punishment for Italy's refusal to withdraw its troops from Iraq.