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Iraq group threatens to kill British hostage
 BAGHDAD - US forces said on Tuesday they had killed or captured 40 senior Al Qaeda members in Iraq, but militants threatened to kill a British hostage in 10 days as a first warning unless Britain withdraws from the country. The appearance of a British hostage in a video, dated Nov. 18, on Arabic-language Al Arabiya channel underscored the danger still posed by militants.A large number of gunmen seized five British hostagesa computer instructor and his four bodyguardsfrom inside a Finance Ministry building in Baghdad in May. The video set a deadline of 10 days from the date it was broadcast for Britain to pull its troops from Iraq. British troops are deployed in the mainly-Shia south. My name is Jason. Today is November 18. I have been here now 173 days and I feel weve been forgotten, said one of the hostages on the video as he sat in front of a banner of the Shia Islamic Resistance in Iraq. The video showed a statement in which the group threatened that this hostage will be killed as a first warning, which would be followed with details that you would not wish to know. Britain condemned the video. No matter what the cause, hostage taking can never be justified. We again call on those holding the men to release them unconditionally, a Foreign Office spokesman said in London. Posted by: Steve White 2007-12-05 |
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