| U.S. special forces freed four hostages in a raid Tuesday after staking out their captors' hideout for a day — the first military rescue of foreigners caught up in Iraq's wave of kidnappings. But there was no word on the fate of a U.S. soldier held hostage and two other Americans missing since an attack on a fuel convoy nearly two months ago. The raid ended the ordeal of a Pole kidnapped last week and three Italian security guards abducted in April whose co-worker was brutally slain. But Iraq's string of abductions showed no sign of abating. Gunmen disclosed they had kidnapped seven Turkish citizens who they said were working with the Americans. They showed some of their captives to reporters and released videotape of the others. More than 40 people from several countries have been abducted in Iraq since April. Many have been released. At least two have been killed by their captors. About 20 are still being held, said Andrew White, an Anglican cleric acting as a negotiator. But freeing the hostages is becoming a more difficult since some may have been sold by their captors to anti-U.S. militants, said White, the Mideast envoy of the Archbishop of Canterbury. |