Baghdad, 1 Nov. (AKI) - The terrorist group Al-Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two employees of the Moroccan embassy in Baghdad captured on 20 October and said that two men would now be subject to "proceedings". The two Moroccan embassy staff were kidnapped while they were travelling on a highway, considered to be extremely dangerous, that links the Iraqi capital to Amman, the Jordanian capital."Following the interrogation of our prisoners, the employees of the Moroccan embassy, we have decided to send their case to the Sharia Committee where they will be able to make a judgement on these kinds of people," said a statement released by the group on the Internet.
To prove that the Moroccans had indeed fallen into the hands of al-Zarqawi's group, internet sites linked to al-Qaeda have not only published the statement released by the Iraqi terrorist organisation but also the identity documents of the two Morrocan embassy employees, Abdelkrim El Mouhafidi, the advisor to the diplomatic mission, and driver, Abdelrahim Boualam. On Monday, the Sunni Council of the Ulema made an appeal for the release of the Moroccan nationals.