KILLED:
- Ronald Schulz, 40, American, an industrial electrician. Shown captive,
his hands tied behind his back, in a video made public December 6, 2005.
Possibly by the Islamic Army in Iraq. A later tape claimed he had been
killed.
- Ali Belaroussi, Algerian charge d'affaires, and Azzedine Belkadi, another
Algerian diplomat. Kidnapped by gunmen in Baghdad on July 21, 2005. Al-Qaida
in Iraq announced the following week that they had been killed.
- Ihab al-Sherif, 51, an Egyptian envoy seized in Baghdad on July 2, 2005.
Al-Qaida in Iraq said in a statement later that it killed the diplomat
because Egypt intended to install a full ambassador in Iraq.
- Akihito Saito, 44, a Japanese security manager employed by the British
company Hart GMSSCO. The Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed in a video May 9,
2005, that they took Saito hostage after ambushing a convoy of foreigners
and Iraqi troops in western Iraq. A later statement said Saito died of
wounds suffered in clashes after the ambush.
- Margaret Hassan, 59, director of CARE international in Iraq and a citizen
of Britain, Ireland and Iraq. Abducted October 19, 2004, in Baghdad. On
November 15, 2004, Al-Jazeera television says she had been shoot as shown
on a videotape.
- Shosei Koda, 24, of Japan. Found decapitated, his body wrapped in an
American flag, in Baghdad on October 30, 2004. He was kidnapped by followers
of al-Zarqawi, who threatened his life unless Japan withdrew its troops
from Iraq
- Three Macedonian contractors, Dalibor Lazarevski, Zoran Nastovski and
Dragan Markovic. Abducted August 21, 2004; killed the following October.
- Ramazan Elbu, a Turkish driver. A video posted October 14, 2004, on
the Web site of the Ansar al-Sunnah Army showed his beheading.
- Maher Kemal, a Turkish contractor. Internet posting October 11, 2004,
showed his beheading by the Ansar al-Sunnah Army.
- British engineer Kenneth Bigley, 62. Kidnapped September 16, 2004, with
two American co-workers for Gulf Services Co. A video issued in al-Zarqawi's
name threatened their lives unless the US freed all Iraqi women in custody.
The Americans were beheaded first; Bigley's decapitation was confirmed
October 10, 2004.
- Jack Hensley. Seized September 16, 2004; killed by al-Zarqawi's followers.
- Eugene "Jack" Armstrong. Kidnapped September 16, 2004; beheaded
by al-Zarqawi.
- Akar Besir, a Turkish driver. Body found September 21, 2004.
- Durmus Kumdereli, Turkish truck driver. Beheaded in video made public
September 13, 2004, by al-Zarqawi's group.
- Twelve Nepalese construction workers. One beheaded and 11 shot in the
head by Ansar al-Sunnah Army; shown in a video made public August 31,
2004.
- Enzo Baldoni, Italian journalist. Reported killed August 26, 2004 by
Islamic Army in Iraq.
- Murat Yuce of Turkey. Shot dead in video made public August 2, 2004,
by followers of al-Zarqawi.
- Raja Azad, 49, engineer, and Sajad Naeem, 29, driver, both Pakistani.
Slain July 28, 2004. The Islamic Army in Iraq said they were killed because
Pakistan was considering sending troops to Iraq.
- Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivaylo Kepov, 32, Bulgarian truck drivers. Al-Zarqawi's
followers suspected of decapitating both men.
- Kim Sun-il, 33, South Korea translator. Beheaded June 22, 2004, by al-Zarqawi's
group.
- Hussein Ali Alyan, 26, Lebanese construction worker. Found shot to death
June 12, 2004.
- Fabrizio Quattrocchi, 35, Italian security guard. Killed April 14, 2004.
An unknown group, the Green Battalion, claimed responsibility.
- Nicholas Berg, 26, American businessman. Kidnapped in April 2004 and
beheaded by al-Zarqawi's group.
FREED OR ESCAPED:
40 Turks, 20 Lebanese, 20 Jordanians, 13 Chinese, 13 Egyptians, seven
Sudanese, six Italians, five Japanese, five Chinese, five Americans, five
French, four Indonesians, three Iranian, three Romanians, three Kenyans,
three Czechs, three Indians, three Poles, two Macedonians, two Australians,
two Filipinos, two Pakistanis, two Canadians, two Russians, a German,
an Irish citizen, a Sri Lankan, a Bangladeshi, a Swede, a Syrian, a Nepalese,
a Briton, a Somali, a Lebanese-Cypriot, a Syrian-Canadian, an Iraqi-American
and an Arab Christian from Jerusalem.
MISSING:
US Army Spc. Keith M. Maupin and Timothy Bell. Disappeared April 9, 2004
after an attack on a fuel convoy. Arab television reported June 29, 2004
that Maupin had been killed; he is listed as missing by the US military.
6.1 Day to day kidnappings
- The Shiites took 13 hostages on April 8, 2004 but they soon released
seven South Korean Christian missionaries. Among those kept prisoners
are three Japanese citizens, two men and a woman -an aid worker, a cameraman
and an depleted uranium expert- that were shown on television being threatened
with rifles and knifes. Their captors, members of the Saraya al-Mujahideen
(Mujahideen Brigades) threatened to kill them -bury them alive- if the
Japanese government does not pull back it more than 500 soldiers out of
Iraq within three days. The Japanese Prime Minister refused to submit
Japan to such a horrible blackmail. Among the hostages there are also
two Palestinians with Israeli passports. A Canadian and a Briton are missing,
probably kept hostage too.
- Mohammed Rifat, of Canada. Prison worker. Abducted April 8.
- On April 9, 2004, six more people of unknown nationality were taken
hostages by the Sunnis near Baghdad. It is believed that some are Italians
and two others British or Americans. The Shia already hold at least five
hostages, two Palestinians and three Japanese's. The Japanese could be
burned to death on April 11 as their government refuses to pull the Japanese
soldiers out of Iraq in order to save them.
- Thousands of people took to the streets in Tokyo on April 9, 2004, to
demand the immediate withdrawal of the Japanese soldiers from Iraq to
save the life of the three hostages held by the Shia. However the Japanese
government confirmed that they would not submit to the blackmail. On April
10, 2004, the insurgents in Falluja said that 30 hostages are in their
hands including some Israelis, Americans and Spaniards. They threatened
to kill them if the coalition forces do not pull out of the city. An American
hostage, Thomas Hamill, was shown on the al-Jazeera television.
- On April 11, 2004, a British civilian, Gary Teeley, who was kidnapped
in Nassiriya was released unharmed. It also seems that eight other hostages
were also let free (two Turks, three Pakistani among them) but this information
was not confirmed. One American contractor and three Japanese are still
held but the bodies of two dead westerners were shown on Arabic television,
possibly two Germans working as private security guards.
- On April 12, 2004, the latest victims are 11 Russians kidnapped in Baghdad.
They were released on April 13. Russia is sending planes to Iraq to evacuate
its 513 citizens and 263 citizens from the ex-soviet republics. There
is no news of the three Japanese taken prisoners a few days ago but seven
Chinese were released. The British hostage, Gary Teeley, released on April
11, described his stay in captivity by the Shiites in Nassiriya as mental
torture. Many times he feared for his life.
- On April 14, 2004, there were about 40 foreigners of twelve countries
held hostage in Iraq.
- A French television journalist, Alexander Jordanov, was freed on April
14, 2004.
- On the other hand two US soldiers and seven employees of Kellogg, Brown
and Root, a Halliburton subsidiary, are missing after their convoy was
attacked west of Baghdad.
- by Ansar al-Sunnah Army The body of the Danish businessman, Henrik Frandsen,
kidnapped 10 days before was found dead and identified on April 21, 2004.
- On April 30, 2004, the two Japanese men who were held hostages for about
nine days, spoke well of their captors calling them soldiers, not terrorists,
and resistance fighters defending their country against the USA. They
said that they were treated relatively well most of the time.
- An American hostage, Thomas Hamill, escaped his Iraqi on May 2, 2004,
in the vicinity of Tikrit. He is in good health and wants to go back to
work for Halliburton. He was captured on April 9 during an attack on a
supply convoy. The eight other people in the convoy are dead or missing.
- Aban Elias, 41, Iraqi-American. Seized May 3, 2004, by a group calling
itself the Islamic Rage Brigade.
- On May 11, 2004, an American contractor, Nick Berg, held hostage in
Iraq was beheaded by Islamic militants (supposedly by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
from al-Qaida) and the execution was recorded on video and shown on an
Islamic website. It was presented as a revenge for the treatment and abuse
of the Iraqi prisoners in the prisons under American control.
- On May 16, 2004, the Arabic television al-Jazeera aired a videotape
showing two Russian hostages taken the week before by a group calling
itself "The Army of the Victorious Sect". The group told coalition
countries to withdraw their citizens "before it was too late!
- Together with the three Italian hostages, a Polish businessman, Jerzy
Kos, was also free on June 8, 2004.
- A South Korean civilian was taken hostage on June 17 in Falluja and
his captors - from the Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad group- said that they
would soon kill him if Seoul does not pull back its 600 soldiers out of
Iraq. The South Korean government refused to do it. The television network
al-Jazeera showed Kim Sun-il making a plea for his life and asking his
government to accept his captors' requests. Unfortunately his militant
Islamic captors beheaded him on June 22 as the South Korean refused to
pullout their troops from Iraq.
- On June 27, 2004, another hostage was also in the hands of the Iraqi
insurgents. He is believed to be a Pakistani, Amjad, and his captors also
said that he would be beheaded within three days if Iraqi prisoners were
not released before. Three Turks have been taken hostage on June 25 and
they face a similar end if Turkey does not pull out all its companies
working in Iraq. The Turkish government has already refused to do it.
The three Turkish hostages were freed on June 29. Their captors justified
their release because there had been a big protest in Istanbul against
George Bush.
- On June 28, 2004, Iraqi militants reportedly shot dead an American soldier,
Keith Maupin, taken as hostage in April because the US refused to withdraw
from Iraq according to the al-Jazeera television. The US military authorities
could not immediately confirm the killing.
- On July 2, 2004, the Islamic militants released three more hostages,
two Turks and a Pakistani. The Turks were released because their firm
agreed to cancel their contract with the US military. Several more hostages
are still held captive including an US Marine.
- On July 7, 2004, al-Jazeera television said that a Philippino working
in Iraq for a Saudi Arabian company associated to the American forces
was captured by a rebel group. They threatened to kill him in three days
unless Philippine withdraw its 50 soldiers from the country. An Iraqi
security guard captured at the same time had already been killed according
to the television broadcast.
- There was some hope for two Bulgarian truck drivers held hostage on
July 11, 2004, as they were still alive after a Friday night execution
deadline set by their kidnappers expired.
- On July 9, 2004, militants in Iraq also held hostages two Bulgarians
under death threat. Kidnappings have increased pressure on interim Prime
Minister Iyad Allawi's government that is trying to assert its authority
after taking over from US-led occupiers on June 28. It is still heavily
dependent for security on 160,000 mainly American troops.
- On July 10, 2004, a group loyal to insurgency leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
threatened to kill the two Bulgarians if the US military did not release
all Iraqi detainees within 24 hours. Bulgaria has a 480-member infantry
unit in Iraq that is under Polish command in the city of Karbala. Its
main duties are patrolling the center of the city and guarding public
buildings. President Bush received assurances that Bulgaria's troop commitment
in the country remains strong despite threats by insurgents to kill two
Bulgarians held hostages.
- On July 13, 2004, the group led by the Jordanian militant Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi has executed one of the Bulgarian hostages, Georgi Lazov, a
lorry driver. He is the fifth hostage executed in Iraq. According to a
message the second Bulgarian will also be killed if Iraqi detainees were
not liberated.
- On July 13, 2004, another militant group holding an Egyptian hostage
said that he would be executed within 72 hours if the firm he works for
does not pull out of Iraq. The Egyptian truck driver held captive for
two weeks by insurgents in Iraq was freed on July 19, 2004.
- On July 14, 2004, Bulgaria said that it would keep its troops in Iraq
just hours after the beheading of a Bulgarian civilian, but admitted it
was powerless in face of a threat to kill a second hostage by the end
of the day.
- On July 14, 2004, the Philippine government said it has begun pulling
its troops out of Iraq to save the life of a Filipino hostage. Eight members
of the 51-strong contingent of soldiers and police doing reconstruction
work in Iraq have already left.
- On July 15, 2004, a headless body was found in the Tigris River north
of Baghdad. It could be the corpse of the Bulgarian hostage decapitated
by his captors a few days ago. On July 16, diplomats in Baghdad said a
headless corpse found in the Tigris River was probably that of a Bulgarian
hostage killed by militants linked to al Qaida ally Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
Hopes of finding a second Bulgarian alive were fading.
- Insurgents belonging to an Iraqi group calling itself the Holders of
the Black Banners said on July 21, 2004, that they had kidnapped six more
foreign hostages -three Indians, two Kenyans and an Egyptian-, and threatened
to behead one every 72 hours unless their employer, identified as a Kuwaiti
company, closed down operations in Iraq.
- Ibrahim Khamis, Salm Faiz Khamis and Jalal Awadh of Kenya; Antaryami,
Tilak Raj and Sukdev Singh of India; Mohammed Ali Sanad of Egypt, truck
drivers abducted July 21, 2004. Militants threatened to behead them if
Kuwaiti employer keeps doing business in Iraq and their countries do not
withdraw citizens.
- On July 22, 2004, the Iraqi police found a decapitated body and a head
of a westerner, probably the second Bulgarian truck driver hostage. The
corpse was found in Beiji, north of Baghdad.
- On July 23, 2004, kidnappers seized an Egyptian diplomat, Muhammad Mamdouh
Qutb, in Iraq and the Egyptian embassy confirmed the news. A videotape
was broadcast on the Al-Jazeera Arab television network showing the captive,
named as Kotb, sitting in front of six masked armed men dressed head-to-toe
in black with white bandanas around their foreheads. A group called the
Lions of Allah kidnapped him. The diplomat was released on July 26.
- On July 23, 2004, Kenya ordered its citizens to leave Iraq after kidnappers
threatened to kill three Kenyan hostages. It is unclear how many Kenyan
citizens are in Iraq.
- Raad Adnan, Iraqi general director of government-owned Al-Mansour Contracting
Co. was kidnapped July 24.
- On July 24, 2004, India's foreign minister Natwar Singh said the government
was doing its best to secure the safe release of three Indians held captive
by militants in Iraq as the crisis entered its fourth day. The Iraqi group
Black Flags is holding them -Tilak Raj, Sukhdev Singh and Antaryami- along
with three Kenyans and an Egyptian. The militants demand that the Kuwait-based
transport firm for which the men worked wind up its operations in Iraq
or they would behead the men one by one.
- On July 25, 2004, the tension increased in Iraq after the captors threatened
to start beheading seven captives unless their Kuwait-based trucking company
cease operations in Iraq. The kidnappers of the seven truckers seized
last week had originally set a deadline for Saturday, at which time they
would start killing them. But a 48-hour extension was announced by the
"Holders of the Black Banners" group on Al-Jazeera late Friday.
- On July 25, 2004, the Kuwaiti employer of seven foreign hostages in
Iraq said they had assurances that the captives would be freed. Company
officials were in talk with the kidnappers of three Kenyans, three Indians
and one Egyptian via Iraqi mediators. The company was willing to do whatever
it took to secure their freedom.
- On July 25, 2004. Two Pakistani citizens were reported kidnapped in
Iraq. Iraq's interim government said Sunday that it had begun investigating
the disappearance of two Pakistanis disappearance. Pakistani foreign ministry
spokesman Masood Khan told AFP in Islamabad that the two latest hostages
identified as engineer Raja Azad and truck-driver Sajjad Naeem had gone
missing on Friday.
- On July 26, 2004, a video showed that four more foreign lorry drivers
-two Pakistanis and two Jordanians- as well as an Iraqi were taken hostage.
The two Pakistanis were reported to have been beheaded on July 28 but
the Iraqi was released.
- Aytullah Gezmen, of Turkey, kidnapped July 27 or 28 worked for Bilintur,
a Turkish company providing laundry service for Jordanian firm in Iraq.
- On July 27. 2004, the Jordanian company Daoud and Partners working for
the US military decided to withdraw from Iraq, complying with demands
of kidnappers threatening to kill two employees, Fayez Saad al-Udwan and
Mohammad Ahmed Salama al-Manaya'a. The Amman-based firm provided construction
and catering services for the military.
- Ali Ahmed Moussa, Somali truck driver. In video aired July 29, insurgents
threaten to kill him if Kuwaiti employer doesn't leave Iraq.
- Vlada Abu Ghadi, Lebanese director of Lara construction company. Abducted
July 31 in Baghdad.
- On August 2, 2004, Turkish lorry owners decided to stop deliveries of
goods to the US forces across the border with Iraq to obtain the liberation
of two Turkish lorry drivers kept hostage. Turkish drivers are doing about
2,000 trips to Iraq every day and between 200 and 300 are bringing supplies
such as petrol and jet fuel to the US troops.
- On August 7, 2004, the employers of a Turkish driver taken as hostage
in Iraq have agreed to stop operating in the country, hoping to save his
life. One week ago another Turkish driver hostage was shot dead by his
captors.
- Faridoun Jihani, Iranian consul to Karbala. In video made public August
7, kidnappers accuse Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs.
- On August 10, Five men kidnapped in Iraq, two Jordanians (and Mohammad
Ahmed Salama al-Manaya'a) and three Lebanese (Kassem Murqbawi, Antoine
Antoun and another have been released.
- Mustafa Koksal and Durmus Kumdereli, Turkish truck drivers, kidnapped
August 14 outside Mosul after delivering water to US base in Baghdad.
- On August 11, 2004, officials have confirmed that a body found in the
Tigris River was that of a Bulgarian hostage. Ivaylo Kepov, a 32-year-old
driver, was identified through DNA analysis. Militants loyal to the Jordanian-born
al-Qaida suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi kidnapped Mr Kepov and his colleague,
Georgi Lazov, 30, at the end of June in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul.
Mr Lazov's body was also found in the Tigris.
- On August 15, 2004 militants claiming are holding an Iranian diplomat
hostage in Iraq; they demand the return of 500 prisoners they say are
kept in Iran after the 1980-88 war.
- On August 15, 2004, a British journalist taken hostage by masked gunmen
in Iraq says he was subjected to a series of mock executions during his
ordeal. James Brandon also said he managed to escape from his kidnappers,
only to be captured again shortly afterwards.
- The worsening security situation in Iraq worries the Indian government
as it continues its efforts on August 18, 2004, to secure the release
of three Indians held by a militant group there since July 21.
- On August 24, 2004, the Islamic group, The Iraqi Mujahedin Islamic Movement,
announced that it was freeing kidnapped Lebanese trucker Mohammed Raad.
- Abdullah Ozdemir and Ali Daskin, Jordanian construction workers were
kidnapped on August 25, 2004, from a construction site. Militants threatened
to kill them if their companies did not leave Iraq within three days.
Hours later, the companies announced they were pulling out.
- Twelve Nepalese workers, kidnapped August 23, 2004, while working for
Jordan-based construction company.
- On August 26, 2004, two Turkish companies, Usluel and SA-RA, began withdrawing
their staff from Iraq hours after militants holding two of their workers
threatened to behead the men if the firms did not pull out. The two men,
Abdullah Ozdemir and Ali Daskin, were kidnapped from a construction site
in Iraq.
- Two Turkish hostages were released in Iraq Sunday August 29, 2004, and
are now safe at the Turkish Embassy in Baghdad. Ali Daskin and Abdullah
Ozdemir, are engineers who were kidnapped from a construction site in
Iraq.
- On August 31, 2004, Nepal was plunged into mourning by reports that
12 of its citizens had been brutally murdered by kidnappers in Iraq. A
group calling itself the Army of Ansar al-Sunna claimed to have killed
12 Nepalese workers. Pictures showing a decapitation and a hooded captor
holding up a bloodied head as a trophy accompanied the statement. The
others are believed to have been shot.
- On September 1, 2004, kidnappers released seven Indian, Kenyan, and
Egyptian workers, one day after another group posted video showing the
slayings of 12 Nepalese hostages. The Kuwaiti firm which employed the
seven truckers said they were on their way to the Gulf state. The chairman
of the Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Company (KGL) which employed the
drivers, Saeed Dashti, said the firm had paid over $500,000 ransom for
their release. Two French journalists taken hostage last month remained
in captivity as French and Iraqi officials and clerics pleaded for their
release.
- On September 2, 2004, militants killed three Turkish hostages in a campaign
to wreck reconstruction efforts and undermine the interim government.
The French newspaper "Le Figaro" said that the two French journalists
held in Iraq had been turned over to a new militant group, prompting some
suggestions they would be freed soon. The bodies of two Turks taken hostage
in Iraq, and a third unidentified man, have been found at a remote farm
in the north of the country on September 3.
- On September 5, 2004, kidnappers in Iraq have released the Turkish driver,
Mr Civi, a day after his employers said they were pulling out of the country
to secure his freedom. Meanwhile, France says it is hopeful the kidnap
ordeal of two French journalists may be nearing an end.
- On September 2004, three Indian truck drivers freed after six weeks
in captivity in Iraq were greeted by cheering crowds and tearful relatives
in their villages. They said on arrival that they had been well treated
by their captors.
- On September 5, 2004, two employers of a Turkish truck driver taken
hostage in Iraq have agreed to pull out of the country following a threat
by his captors to behead him. Edip Rende of the Renay International Transport
Company said that the Turkish company would suspend operations in Iraq
and urged Ankara to help secure the release of the driver, identified
by Turkish media as Mithat Civi.
- On September 10, 2004, five kidnappings were reported. In Najaf, four
police officers were taken hostage, and in Baghdad, a police officer was
abducted. Police think the Baghdad kidnapping and the recent abduction
of two female Italian aid workers might have been conducted by the same
people. The kidnappers in both incidents wore Iraqi National Guard uniforms
and used similar vehicles.
- On September 13, 2004, a video posted on a Web site in the name of a
group of militants led by Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
showed the execution of a Turkish hostage. The victim identifies himself
as Durmus Kumdereli and says in Turkish that he was transporting goods
to an American military base. In another hostage drama, Italy's foreign
minister traveled to neighboring Kuwait for a Middle East visit designed
to win the release of two Italian women kidnapped in Iraq. Foreign Minister
Franco Frattini appealed for a "civilized dialogue" between
religions as he stood inside Kuwait's Grand Mosque.
- A group calling itself the 'Horror Brigades of the Islamic Secret Army'
says it has captured two Australians, along with two Asians, on the highway
from Baghdad to the main northern city of Mosul on September 13, 2004.
The group, which has been involved in previous kidnappings of foreigners,
has given Prime Minister John Howard 24 hours to end Australia's involvement
in Iraq or the hostages will be executed. The claim has been made in a
statement issued by the group in the town of Samarra, which is a stronghold
for Sunni Muslim insurgents in north central Iraq. However, Foreign Minister
Alexander Downer says all of the Australians working in Iraq have been
accounted for.
- On September 15, 2004, a Turkish translator held hostage by Iraqi kidnappers
since July has been freed. The translator was released following Turkish
protests over an American offensive in the city of Tal Afar. At the same
time, two more truck drivers from Turkey were kidnapped near the Iraqi
town of Tikrit.
- Kidnappers released a Jordanian truck driver, Turki Simer Khalifeh al-Breizat,
Thursday September 16, 2004, after his company declared it would stop
working in Iraq. The truck driver's release came soon after militants
freed a Turkish hostage. The driver's employer - Ibrahim Abul-Sheeh al-Zubi's
Transport Company - declared Wednesday that it had ceased operating in
Iraq in an effort to win al-Breizat's release. The driver was abducted
while transporting supplies to American forces. At least 12 Jordanians
have been abducted since the US-led invasion of Iraq in March 2003; many
of them have been executed.
- Three Lebanese travel agency workers, Fadi Munir Yassin, Cherbal Karam
Haj and Aram Nalbandian, and their Iraqi driver were kidnapped September
17, 2004, on the road between Baghdad and Falluja.
- On September 18, 2004, a militant group in Iraq claimed it is holding
10 hostages working for an American-Turkish company in a tape broadcast
by the pan-Arab station Al-Jazeera. The previously unknown group, calling
itself the "Salafist Bridages of Abu Baqr Al-Siddiq," gave an
ultimatum of three days for the company to leave Iraq or it will kill
the 10 hostages. The group identified the company as American-Turkish,
operating in Iraq, but did not give a name. About 120 foreigners have
been kidnapped in Iraq, and many have been killed by their captors.
- The Turkish Embassy in Baghdad said Sunday September 19, 2004, that
10 employees of a US-Turkish company were kidnapped in Iraq. Arabic-language
television news network Al-Jazeera broadcast video Saturday showing kidnappers
who threatened to kill the 10 hostages if their company does not withdraw
from Iraq within three days.
- Al-Jazeera also broadcast video Sunday September 19, 2004, from a previously
unknown group that said it had captured 15 members of the Iraqi National
Guard. The group -calling itself Mohammed ben Abdullah- gave the authorities
48 hours to release Hazem al-Aaraji, an aide to radical Shiite cleric
Muqtada al-Sadr who was detained Saturday night during a raid on his home
in Baghdad.
- An Islamist militant Web site posted a video Sunday September 19, 2004,
showing the decapitation of three members of the Kurdish Democratic Party
(KDP). In the video, a group calling itself Ansar al-Sunna -the same group
that released video last month showing the purported killings of 12 Nepalese
hostages- said that members of the KDP and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan
(PUK) were traitors serving "Zionists" and "Christian crusaders"
fighting against Islam. The video statement said the three men, all truck
drivers, were captured as they were hauling military vehicles near the
town of Taji, about 24 kilometers north of Baghdad.
- On September 20, 2004, Mr.Zarqawi's Iraq-based group, Tawhid and Jihad,
claims responsibility for beheading hostages and kidnappings two Americans
and a Briton last week.
- A Turkish construction company announced Tuesday September 21, 2004,
that it was halting operations in Iraq in a bid to save the lives of 10
employees kidnapped by militants. The state TRT television reported the
body of a Turk, identified as Akar Besir, was found early Tuesday near
Mosul. The report said Besir was employed as a driver for a firm working
for the US military and was kidnapped on Saturday.
- Earlier Tuesday September 21, 2004, Tahsin Top, a Turkish hostage in
Iraq whose company withdrew from Iraq was released by his kidnappers.
Top had been abducted north of Baghdad on August 5 by kidnappers who threatened
to behead him if his Turkish employer did not withdraw from Iraq. Top's
company, Atahan Lojistik International, later withdrew from Iraq. The
kidnappers then demanded $45,000 for Top's release.
- On September 22, 2004, the headless body of the second American hostage
executed this week by militants loyal to Jordanian terrorist Musab al-Zarqawi
was found and identified today. The militant group still holds one British
citizen. The group is demanding the release of all women held in Iraqi
prisons. The US-led coalition has said there are only two women being
held in Iraqi jails, both of whom were researchers in chemical and biological
weapons programs under former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. US officials
said neither would be released, though some Iraqi officials indicated
they would be released in the coming days.
- On September 23, 2004, armed men have kidnapped two Egyptians from their
office in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad, the third such abduction in less
than three weeks. Police said the attackers tied up the guards and abducted
the men, who work for a mobile telephone company. More than 100 foreigners
have been kidnapped in Iraq since March 2003. Most have been freed, but
at least 27 have been killed by their kidnappers. Many Iraqis have also
been taken hostage - in most cases for ransom.
- On Friday September 24, 2004, kidnappers seized six Egyptians working
for Iraq's mobile phone company in separate incidents. The men were all
working for Iraquna Mobile Net. Two were kidnapped in Baghdad, while the
others were seized outside the capital. It was not clear if the kidnappings
were politically motivated.
- An Iranian diplomat was freed in Iraq on September 27, 2004, after a
55-day hostage ordeal at the hands of the same Islamic militants holding
two French newsmen.
- The Iranian diplomat freed after a 55-day ordeal as a hostage in Iraq
returned home on September 29, 2004; the Islamic republic reiterating
that no deal had been made with his kidnappers. Iran confirmed that Jahani
had been held by a group calling itself the Islamic Army of Iraq. Jahani
went missing on August 4 on the road from Baghdad to the Shiite pilgrimage
city of Karbala, where he had been appointed to open an Iranian consulate.
- On September 30, 2004, an Iraqi militant group said it had kidnapped
10 people, including two Indonesian women.
- The Arab news network Al-Jazeera showed video Thursday September 30,
2004, of 10 new hostages seized in Iraq by militants. The six Iraqis,
two Lebanese, and two Indonesian women were taken by The Islamic Army
in Iraq. The video showed three of the hostages, who were not identified,
and two masked gunmen pointing weapons at them. There was no mention of
demands by the militants or when or where the hostages were captured.
The network said the 10 were employees of the Jib electricity company.
The same day kidnappers in Iraq released a Lebanese hostage identified
as Imad Basila; he was in good health. Several Lebanese businessmen and
truck drivers have been kidnapped in Iraq in recent months. All were released
unharmed except for one, Hussein Ali Alyan, a 26-year-old Lebanese construction
worker found shot to death June 12. Hundreds of Lebanese, mainly construction
workers and industrialists, have gone to Iraq looking for opportunities
in postwar reconstruction.
- Pope John Paul II denounced kidnappers for using human beings as bargaining
chips, and said Saturday October 2, 2004, that journalists were paying
a heavy price in their work during conflicts.
- On October 4, 2004, an Iraqi group has released two Indonesian women
captives who were handed over to the United Arab Emirates' embassy in
Baghdad.
- In the latest hostage developments, kidnappers freed two Indonesian
women on October 5, 2004, but a separate militant group claimed to have
killed a Turkish man and a longtime Iraqi resident of Italy.
- Kidnappers struck again on Saturday October 9, 2004, seizing a Turkish
truck driver identified as Halil Oglu and wounding his colleague near
Beiji, 112 miles north of Baghdad.
- An Islamist group in Iraq announced Sunday October 10, 2004, it had
released 10 Turkish hostages after their company pulled out of the country;
there was no immediate confirmation.
- On October 11, 2004, armed men claiming to belong to the militant group
of Iraq`s most wanted man Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi appeared in a video threatening
to behead a Turkish hostage, while another militant group posted a video
on the Internet of the beheading of a purported Turkish contractor and
a Kurdish translator accused of working with US troops.
- An Islamic Web site on Monday October 11, 2004, showed the beheading
of two hostages -one a Turkish contractor and the other an Iraqi Kurdish
translator, Luqman Hussein, wearing a badge of the Titan security company.
A written statement appearing on the video showing the beheadings accused
the Kurdish translator of participating in raids with US troops in the
Ramadi area. A second statement claimed the Turkish contractor was working
for the Americans at an air base north of the capital. The two were killed
by the Ansar al-Sunnah Army, which also claimed responsibility for slaughtering
12 Nepalese workers and three Iraqi Kurds on August 31. Also Monday, the
Arabic language television station Al-Arabiya broadcast a video showing
three hooded gunmen threatening to behead another Turkish hostage within
three days unless the Americans release all Iraqi prisoners and all Turks
leave Iraq.
- On October 13, 2004, we were told that American rescue teams tried at
least twice to free two US citizens and a Briton taken hostage in Iraq
and later killed. Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley were killed soon after
their abduction on 16 September while British man Kenneth Bigley was beheaded
last week. Rescuers acting on intelligence reports reportedly went to
two sites in Baghdad but on both occasions found nothing.
- On October 18, 2004, a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq
has said it executed two Macedonian men it accused of spying for US forces.
- After Monday's news of the death of two Macedonians, the Macedonian
Foreign Ministry Spokesman said on Tuesday October 19, 2004, that the
ministry was working on the return of 19 Macedonians working there. Macedonia
has 32 troops stationed in north of Baghdad. In addition, there are hundred
Macedonian citizens working in Iraq for foreign companies.
- Charbel Hajj and Aram Nalbandian, the two Lebanese kidnapped in Iraq
last month and freed Wednesday, returned to Beirut on Thursday October
14, 2004, where their families welcomed them with tears of joy. Hajj was
rushed to the hospital following his arrival to continue treatment of
his injuries, sustained during the shelling of the building he was held
captive in.
- Orascom announced on October 20, 2004, that two of its Egyptian employees
had been released by their kidnappers after a month in captivity.
- On October 27, 2004, a Japanese tourist taken hostage in Iraq said in
a video that he would be beheading if Japan were not pulling its troops
out of Iraq. The Japanese government refused.
- On October 28, 2004, an Iraqi militant group, the Army of Ansar al-Sunna,
said that they have killed 11 Iraqi security officers taken hostage. A
video showed that they kidnapped a Polish woman.
- On October 30, 2004, the Japanese authorities confirmed that the corpse
of a beheaded man found in Iraq is that of a Japanese man, Shosei Koda,
taken hostage a few days ago.
- On November 1, 2004, gunmen entered the compound of a Saudi Arabia complex
in Baghdad and took 6 people hostage: one American, a Nepalese and four
Iraqis. During the battle a security guard was killed as well as a gunman.
Later on two Iraqis were released. More than 160 foreigners have been
taken hostages in 2004 so far and about 33 have been killed. However,
in October only, 152 Iraqis have been kidnapped.
- On November 3, 2004, gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese-American businessman
in Baghdad. A videotape showed the beheadings of three Iraqi National
guardsmen and an Iraqi officer.
- On November 11, 2004, the television network al-Jazeera broadcasted
a videotape showing an American contractor of Lebanese origin held hostage
in Iraq. He is believed to be Dean Sadek.
- On November 20, 2004, the Polish woman, Teresa Borez Khalifa, held hostage
for many days was liberated. She was flown back home.
- On December 10, 2004, two hostages working for a Kuwaiti transport company
were released after 43 days in captivity. They were a driver from Sri
Lanka and his colleague from Bangladesh.
- On December 25, 2004, one of Turkey richest businessman, Kahraman Sadikoglu,
president of the Istanbul based Tuzla Shipyard, and ship captain Ahmet
Yurtdas, are said to have been kidnapped in Iraq. There are some evidences
that a ransom of $24m has been asked for their release. They were working
for the United Nations and the Iraqi government clearing harbours of sunken
ships.
- On January 7, 2005, the body of the American truck driver, William Bradley,
who was kidnapped in April 2004, was found near Baghdad. Bradley was working
for Halliburton.
- In Baghdad, 10 insurgents attacked a minibus leaving the hotel Bakhan
killing six Iraqis -the bus driver and five workers- and taking hostage
a Turkish entrepreneur Abdulkadir Tanrikulu.
- On January 17, 2005, insurgents kidnapped a Syrian Catholic archbishop,
Basile Georges Casmouussa, in Mosul. Only three percents of the 26 millions
Iraqis are Christians. Most of them are Chaldean-Assyrians and Armenians
with, in addition, a small number of Catholics.
- On Tuesday January 18, 2005, the Iraqi kidnappers released the Archbishop
Basile Georges Casmoussa. The Vatican acted quickly for his release but
paid no ransom (so they said). It is possible that the kidnappers did
not know who he was.
- On January 18, 2005, a videotape showed eight Chinese men said to have
been kidnapped and held hostage. The kidnappers said they were working
for a company with US contracts. However the Chinese government said that
they were planning to come home, as they could not find any job.
- A Japanese engineer was kidnapped in an ambush in central Iraq on January
19, 2005.
- A senior official from Tikrit, Ali Ghalib, the head of the governing
council for Salahuddin, was released by his kidnappers. He was held two
weeks in captivity.
- On January 22, 2005, insurgents said that they kidnapped a Brazilian
engineer near Beiji while others from the Islamic Resistance Movement
said that they had released the eight Chinese kidnapped a few days before
as a good will measure.
- On February 1, 2005, a militant group, the Mujahideen Squadron, claimed
to have kidnapped an American soldier, John Adam, and threatened to kill
him if Iraqi prisoners were not released within 72 hours.
- Gunmen in Baghdad have kidnapped four Egyptian engineers working for
a mobile telephone company on February 5, 2005. It is not clear who was
behind the kidnappings.
- On February 7, 2005, US forces in Iraq stormed a house in Baghdad and
freed two Egyptian telecommunications engineers kidnapped the day before.
US forces raided a villa and freed two of the four Egyptians. The other
two managed to escape on their own from a car they had been locked in.
- A Turkish businessman who was kidnapped in Iraq in December and released
this week, has admitted on February 17, 2005, that he paid a ransom of
half a million dollars to his abductors. Sadikoglu's companions -two Turks
and one Iraqi- were freed in January. Some 80 Turks, most of them truck
drivers, have been killed in Iraq in recent months. Most died in attacks
on truck convoys although a number were the victims of kidnappers.
- On March 2, 2005, an Iraqi-born Swedish citizen and leader of the Christian
Democrat Party in Iraq, Minas Ibrahim Al-Yusufi has asked for help from
the Vatican and the Swedish King to rescue him. Al-Yusufi was kidnapped
nearly a month. Al-Yusifi, kidnapped in Iraq more than a month ago has
been freed, on March 18, 2005.
- 189 foreign nationals were kidnapped since October 2003 until March
18, 2005, of which 47 are still captive.
- The Pakistani government has appealed for the release of one of its
embassy staff that has been abducted. Malik Mohammed Javed disappeared
on Saturday April 9, 2005 after going to a Baghdad mosque for evening
prayers. Pakistan's foreign ministry said the Omar bin Khattab group had
claimed his abduction.
- On April 11, 2005, a US contractor was kidnapped in the Baghdad area;
he was working on a reconstruction project.
- Iraqi forces have reportedly found no hostages on April 18, 2005, in
the Iraqi town of Madain, where Sunni militants were said to have taken
scores of Shia captive. A leading Sunni cleric has told the BBC the reports
of hostage-taking were fabricated as an excuse to raid Madain. Reports
say a force of 1,500 Iraqi soldiers, backed up by US forces, and entered
the town of Madain.
- Militants issued a tape of an Australian man who has been taken hostage
in Iraq. The man, who identified himself as 63-year-old Douglas Wood,
appealed to the US, British and Australian governments to pull troops
out of Iraq.
- On May 2, 2005, Australia said it will send a team to Iraq to seek the
release of a kidnapped Australian contractor, Douglas Wood, aged 63, living
in California. But Australian Prime Minister John Howard ruled out any
negotiations with the man's captors. Mr Wood's American wife says she
is sure the man shown is her husband. Hisfamily made a fresh televised
plea for his freedom on Saturday May 7, 2005, after his captors released
a second video demanding Canberra start withdrawing troops within 72 hours.
- The kidnapping of a Japanese man by a militant group won't affect Tokyo's
550 troop deployment there, Japan's defence chief said Tuesday May 10,
2005, and the captive's family urged the government to stay the course.
The Ansar al-Sunnah Army claimed that it had kidnapped Akihiko Saito,
44, after ambushing a group of five foreign contractors. Saito was ''seriously
injured'' in the fighting and the others have died.
- Sunday May 15, 2005, insurgents free Raja Nawaf, governor of the western
province of Anbar, who was kidnapped on Tuesday.
- The Army of Ansar al-Sunna released a video on Sunday May 15, 2005,
of the ambush of a convoy in which it took a Japanese man hostage. The
group kidnapped Akihiko Saito last week after killing four foreigners
and 12 Iraqis in fierce clashes near a US base in western Iraq. The security
company whose employees were ambushed, said there were 14 Iraqi staff
and four foreigners in the convoy attacked. It said two foreigners and
four Iraqis were known to have survived the ambush. Saito may have died
of his wounds.
- Insurgents demanded that his company stop all activities in Iraq after
kidnapping a Turkish businessman, Ali Musluoglu on May 24, 2005.
- The Army of Ansar al-Sunna, said on Saturday May 28, 2005, they had
killed a Japanese hostage seized in Iraq. His corpse was shown on the
Internet. Japan's Foreign Ministry and the hostage's brother confirmed
that the video footage showed the body of 44-year-old Akihiko Saito. It
is not clear if his captors have killed him on that date or if he died
following the wounds received when he was captured. He spent twenty years
of his life in the French Foreign Legion. He was working in Iraq for the
security firm Hart.
- The kidnapped governor of Iraq's Anbar province has been found dead
on May 31, 2005, along with his suspected captors after a clash with US
forces. Raja Nawaf's body was found tied to a gas canister in a house
in Rawa, near the Syria border. He was kidnapped on 10 May. A group claiming
to have seized him said it would hold him captive until US troops pulled
back from Qaim.
- In the first haft of June 2005, the risk of being kidnapped in Iraq
remains high. This is true for the foreigners but the Iraqis are at risk
too, especially those who are making money. In the last 18 months it is
believed that at least 5,000 Iraqis were kidnapped although no mention
of most of them appeared in the media, local or foreign. Some of the kidnappings
are political -involving Iraqis working for the Americans- but most are
for ransom that can amount to $50,000.
- In Kirkuk on June 13, 2005, a Kurdish Human Rights activist woman has
been kidnapped.
- On June 15, 2005, Australian hostage Douglas Wood has been rescued from
his captors after being held for six weeks in Iraq. The engineer, seized
in late April, had been rescued in an Iraqi military raid backed by the
US.
- An Indian businessman was abducted in Baghdad by armed captors on July
23, 2005. Unidentified gunmen entered the businessman's office in the
Al-Mansour district in western Baghdad and took him along with $US 150,000.
- US troops freed an American who had been held hostage in Iraq for 10
months when they raided a farmhouse just outside Baghdad on Wednesday
September 7, 2005. Roy Hallums had been kidnapped on November 1, 2004,
along with five colleagues from a Saudi-owned company when gunmen raided
a villa in Baghdad. Four Iraqis were released fairly rapidly but a fifth
man, Filipino Robert Tarongoy, was freed only in June.
- Former American hostage Roy Hallums left Iraq for the United States
on Friday September 9, 2005, two days after he was rescued from an isolated
farmhouse near Baghdad. Roy Hallums was working for the Saudi Arabian
Trading and Construction Co., supplying food to the Iraqi army, when he
was kidnapped November 1, 2004. He was seized along with two other foreigners
after a firefight in the upscale Mansour neighbourhood. An Iraqi guard
and one attacker were killed. A Filipino, a Nepalese and three Iraqis
also were abducted but later freed. He was rescued on Wednesday by US
troops from a farmhouse 15 miles south of Baghdad. His abductors fled
without a fight.
- Gunmen kidnapped the brother of Iraq's interior minister as he drove
home in Baghdad on Saturday October 1, 2005. Jebbar Jabr Solagh, who also
goes by the name Baqir Solagh Jabor, was taken as he drove home to the
capital's mainly Shiite district of Sadr City, where he also works as
a hospital director. Solagh is the brother of Interior Minister Bayan
Jabr Solagh, the Shiite head of Iraq's police forces.
- The brother of Iraq's interior minister, kidnapped by gunmen on Saturday,
has been freed from captivity on Sunday October 2, 2005. He was freed
following the intervention of Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical young Shiite
cleric who has a strong following in Sadr City.
- The Baghdad correspondent for the British newspaper The Guardian newspaper
disappears in Iraq and is believed to have been kidnapped on October 19,
2005.
- Six Iranian pilgrims were seized near a Shiite religious shrine.
- A French engineer was kidnapped in Baghdad.
- On December 7, 2005, gunmen kidnapped the 8-year-old, Karim Salam, son
of a bodyguard of a judge in Saddam Hussein's trial.
- A statement on the Internet on December 8, 2005, said that the Islamic
Army in Iraq killed an American hostage, Ronald Alan Schulz. According
to the statement he was a "Security Consultant." The American
authorities have not confirmed his death.
- There is no news about the French aid worker and the German woman archaeologist
who are also in kidnappers' hands.
- An Iraqi extremist group has broadcast an Internet video on December
19, 2005, apparently showing a hostage being shot dead. The Islamic Army
of Iraq said the footage showed the death of American contractor Ronald
Allen Schulz, whom it claimed to have killed last week. Mr Schulz - a
former US marine who worked as a contractor in Iraq - was reported captured
on 6 December.
- Al-Qaida in Iraq threatened to kill five Sudanese Embassy employees
in two days unless Sudan closes its embassy.
- Gunmen kidnapped a Lebanese engineer, Camile Nassif Tannous. He was
working for the Schneider engineering firm.
- The six Sudanese embassy employees were freed after Sudan closed its
mission in Baghdad.
- A French engineer, Bernard Planche, who was kidnapped on December 5,
2005, was released on January 8, 2006. The insurgents asked France to
pullback its soldiers from Iraq but it is well known that there are none
there.
- A reporter, Phil Sands, was kidnapped on December 26, 2005, but nobody
knew about it until American soldiers rescued him on December 31.
- Two German engineers were also kidnapped on January 28, 2006 in Beiji.
Four Iranian pilgrims, who had been taken hostage by armed men in Iraq
74 days ago, were released. The four, Ebrahim Abutalebi Tehrani, Mehdi
Jazeeni, Hassan Jazeeni and Mohammad Talebi, were part of a six-member
group, including two women, who travelled to Iraq on a pilgrimage visit
in late November. They were kidnapped near the city of Balad, north of
Baghdad, on November 28, on their way back from the city of Samarra. The
two women were released one day later and were taken to Iran's consulate
in Karbala, but there was no information about the fate of the four men.
One month later, the al Arabiya television quoted a group introducing
itself as the 'Sad ibn Abi Waqqas' battalion as saying in a statement
that they held the Iranian hostages. However, the kidnappers released
the four men near Balad on Friday evening.
- A militant group, the Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna, holding two German hostages
in Iraq issued what they called their final ultimatum on February 12,
2006, before killing the captives unless Berlin met their demands. The
two engineers, Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke, were abducted on
January 24 outside their workplace in the industrial town of Beiji. In
a video released in late January, the group demanded that Germany end
its cooperation with the Iraqi government and close its mission in Baghdad,
and that German firms stop their dealings there.
- On Saturday February 18, 2006, it was confirmed that two foreigners
who disappeared two days ago in the southeastern city of Basra were Macedonians
kidnapped on their way from the airport to the city centre. The kidnappers
have demanded a ransom.
- The two Macedonian contractors were freed by their kidnappers on February
20, 2006.
- On March 9, 2006, the German government believes that two German engineers,
Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke, who were abducted on January 24
outside their workplace in the industrial town of Beiji by gunmen, have
not been killed by their kidnappers. Last month the militant group holding
the two men, Ansar al-Tawhid Wa-Sunna, issued what it called a final ultimatum
before killing the captives unless Berlin met its demands that Germany
end cooperation with Baghdad, close its embassy and force all German firms
to leave the country.
- Two German hostages held in Iraq since the end of January have appeared
in a video pleading for help on April 8, 2006. A statement by their captors
posted on a Web site often used by Iraq insurgent groups demanded the
release of all prisoners held by US-led forces in Iraq and warned the
two would be killed if its call was ignored.
- Two German engineers held captive for 99 days in Iraq were released
unharmed and in stable condition Tuesday May 2, 2006. Rene Braeunlich
and Thomas Nitzschke are receiving medical and psychological care from
German specialists in a safe place in Iraq. The two men are to return
to Germany on Wednesday. They were kidnapped January 24 on their way to
work at an Iraqi-government owned detergent plant in Beiji, 55 miles north
of Baghdad. Their employer, Leipzig-based Cryotec Anlagenbau AG, has a
commercial relationship with the plant