| Submit your comments on this article |
| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraq 'Kidnappers' Threaten to Kill Italian Hostage; Blather Threats |
| 2005-02-06 |
| An Islamist militant group in Iraq claimed responsibility for kidnapping an Italian journalist and threatened to kill her by Monday, following an earlier kidnap claim, according to an Internet statement. The statement, which could not be verified, was signed by the Jihad Organization and threatened to kill Giuliana Sgrena by Monday if Italy did not withdraw its troops from Iraq. A group with a similar name, the Islamic Jihad Organization, claimed on Friday to have taken Sgrena and set a 72-hour deadline for Italy to remove its troops, but did not specifically threaten to kill her. It was not clear if the latest posting was by a separate group. Both statements were posted on the Web site by the same user and had the same format, although the sign-off differed. "We in the Jihad Organization ... announce that we will implement God's law (kill) on the Italian prisoner Giuliana Sgrena after 48 hours if the Italian government, headed by the criminal Berlusconi, does not announce it will withdraw (troops) from Iraq," said the statement dated on Saturday. "To the Italian people, it is time for you to know the truth about your criminal government that is still in Iraq," it said. "Your sons' blood is the responsibility of Berlusconi and his gang of Islam's enemies. Your army's continued presence in Iraq will bring about grave consequences and you will not be blessed with security as long as Muslims in Iraq are not living securely," it added. Like Friday's statement from the Islamic Jihad Organization, the threat was posted on a site not used by the main Iraqi insurgent groups. In September, the Jihad Organization, claimed in a Web statement to have killed two Italian aid workers, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari. The claim also followed a statement from the Islamic Jihad Organization saying it abducted the same women and would kill them if Italian troops did not leave Iraq. Both women were subsequently released. Sgrena's kidnapping is the first of a foreigner since the Iraqi elections last Sunday. Sgrena, a correspondent for Rome-based Communist newspaper Il Manifesto, was snatched from the street while she was interviewing people near Baghdad university. Il Manifesto was virulently opposed to the 2003 Iraq war and an opponent of Berlusconi and President Bush. Hmm. If ever there was a suspicious kidnap, this is it. At the least, there's a guaranteed case of Stockholm syndrome coming up... Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni was abducted in August by an organization calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq. He was killed after Rome refused its demand to pull troops from Iraq. |
| Posted by:Bulldog |