An Islamic Web site posted still pictures Friday that purportedly show Iraqi militants beheading an Egyptian man they claim was spying for the U.S. military. There was no way to verify the authenticity of the images, and there was no record that the man, identified on the Web site as Mohammed Fawzi Abdaal Mutwalli, had been kidnapped. The pictures are apparently stills from a video on the site that could not be accessed. A second Web site, an English-language site that does not appear to have political links, carried the video of the beheading. Neither site gave a date for the killing. Reports that Mutwalli had been killed first surfaced Wednesday, but Egyptian government officials have not confirmed his death. Mutwalli's family said they had not heard from him for 15 years. Police officials said Mutwalli, 45, went to Iraq in 1986 to work as a car mechanic. He comes from the village of Saqr in Dakahlia province in the Nile Delta, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Although the family had not heard from Mutwalli for more than 15 years, the father dismissed suggestions his son could be a spy. There was no immediate comment from U.S. officials.
The latest images show three masked men standing in front of a banner carrying the name and golden-sun logo of Tawhid and Jihad, the group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi that has claimed responsibility for beheading other hostages in Iraq, including American Nicholas Berg and South Korean translator Kim Sun-il. The pictures show a man, with a mustache and wearing an Arabic robe, sitting in front of the three masked men with his hands tied behind his back. Captions on the pictures of the hostage say: "From the Arab Republic of Egypt. Mohammed Fawzi Abdaal Mutwalli. I was working as a spy with the Americans in Iraq." A statement that appeared on the Web site alongside the pictures said: "This is the story of the Egyptian traitor spy." The sequential pictures then show the man lying on the ground. A militant decapitates him with a knife and places his severed head on his back. |