The Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television station Saturday aired video footage of what it said were two Americans and a Briton kidnapped two days ago from their house in central Baghdad.
The footage on al-Jazeera showed them blindfolded and said they were being held by the group led by al Qaeda activist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
In the video, the group - Tawhid and Jihad warned that the three would be executed within 48 hours unless the United States and Britain free female Iraqi detainees from Abu Ghraib and Umm Qasr prisons.
"God's soldiers from Tawhid and Jihad were able to abduct three infidels of God's enemies in Baghdad," said one captor dressed in black.
"They offer logistic support to American troops in Iraq, as was shown from investigation and the documents seized with them," he said. If their demand is not met, the speaker warned, "by the name of God, these three hostages will get nothing from us except their throats slit and necks chopped, so they will serve as an example."
The masked man in the video accused Iraq's interim president of enabling "infidel foreigners" to "violate the honor of Muslim women, humiliate people and suck up the riches of the country."
The three were nabbed at dawn Thursday from their home in Baghdad.
The video showed a masked, armed man standing behind the three men, who were blindfolded, and appeared to be seated and unharmed. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
