An Arabic television channel on Saturday aired a tape from an Iraqi group which is threatening to kill 30 foreign hostages. In the tape, the group has threatened to cut off the heads of their prisoners unless US occupation forces lift a blockade on the town of Fallujah.
"We are calling for the withdrawal of American and Coalition forces. "We have Japanese, Bulgarian, Israeli, American, Spanish and Korean hostages. "Their numbers are 30," said a masked man holding a Kalashnikov rifle.
Earlier, two security agents from the German Embassy in Baghdad were reported missing for several days, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman confirmed.
In another development, the US Army said it had killed 12 Iraqi fighters in northern Iraq, destroying their truck with a missile.
Meanwhile, amid the growing uprising in Iraq, US President George W. Bush declared Saturday that "insurgents are a small faction" trying to derail democracy in a battle he
vowed the U.S. military and its allies will win.
"Coalition forces will continue a multi-city offensive...until these enemies of democracy are dealt with," Bush said in his weekly radio address.
"A small faction is attempting to...seize power" as
the June 30 date for Iraqi sovereignty draws near, the
US leader said on the radio, and to delay the turnover of
sovereignty "is precisely what our enemies want."
The "insurgents" seek to dictate the course of events in
Iraq and "they want America and our coalition to falter in
our commitments before a watching world," he said. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
