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Zarqawi sez he's gonna kill the Algerians
Al Qaeda in Iraq said it will kill two Algerian diplomats it had kidnapped in Baghdad last week, according to an Internet statement posted on Tuesday."The judicial court of the Organisation of al Qaeda in Iraq has sentenced to death the diplomatic envoys of the apostate Algerian government," said the statement from the group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. "This is the fate of the ambassadors and the envoys of all infidel governments," said the statement, dated July 25. Its authenticity could not be immediately verified. Algeria's foreign ministry declined to comment and a government official said the issue was too sensitive to make a statement at the moment. Algerian Foreign Minister Mohamed Bedjaoui said in comments published on Tuesday: "We have always been on the side of the Iraqi people ... For Algerian envoys to be attacked is something that is beyond comprehension." Guerrilla strikes have driven diplomats from the Iraqi capital, undermining the U.S.-backed government's efforts to gain support among Arab countries. On Monday Algeria pulled its last diplomatic staff out of its embassy in Baghdad. The statement, posted on an Islamist Web site often used by al Qaeda in Iraq, did not give details about the fate of mission chief Ali Belaroussi, 62, and attaché Azzedine Belkadi, 47 who were snatched by gunmen on Thursday near their embassy. It was the first time the group admitted to holding Belkadi. Earlier this week, al Qaeda claimed the kidnapping of Belaroussi and on Monday posted pictures of identification cards belonging to him on the same Web site. The families of Belaroussi and Belkadi on Tuesday appealed in an newspaper to al Qaeda to free their loved ones. Al Qaeda in Iraq earlier this month kidnapped and killed Egyptian mission chief Ihab el-Sherif. It also shot and wounded the envoys of Pakistan and Bahrain. Posted by: Dan Darling 2005-07-26 |
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