Members of Abu Musab al Zarqawi's group have executed a Turkish hostage kidnapped in Iraq, according to a video posted Monday on the Internet.
The video shows a man identified as a Turk kneeling in front of three armed men. The hostage reads a statement in Turkish identifying himself and his employer. The leader of the three kidnappers then takes out a pistol and shoots the man in the side of his head.
The Turk slumps to the ground, and the kidnapper shoots him twice more. Blood is seen on the ground next to his head.
A black banner on the wall behind the kidnappers identified the group as the Tawhid and Jihad, which is led by al-Zarqawi, a Jordanian activist linked to al-Qaeda.
On Saturday, the group released a video tape saying it had kidnapped two Turkish truck drivers and threatened to behead them within 48 hours. The two worked for a Turkish company that delivered goods to American occupation forces in Iraq.
Following the news on the execution, Turkey's truckers association said Monday it would stop delivering goods to U.S. forces in Iraq. Cahit Soysal, head of the International Transportation Association, said that Turkish truckers hoped that kidnappers would release the two other recently captured Turkish as a result of the organization's decision to stop deliveries.
Soysal said that 200-300 Turkish trucks bring supplies to U.S. forces in Iraq every day.
Meanwhile, Al Zarqawi group said Monday that it will free a Somali truck driver it kidnapped because the Kuwaiti company which employed him decided to stop operations in Iraq, al-Jazeera television reported.
In a video aired July 29, the group threatened to behead Ali Ahmed Moussa within 48 hours if the Kuwaiti employer declined to quit Iraq.
The TV channel said the group was releasing Moussa "in appreciation of the attitudes of the Somali government and people toward Iraq and the Kuwaiti company's commitment to stop doing business in Iraq." (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
