Two Israeli Arabs were captured by resistance fighter in Iraq. An Iranian TV statipn aired photographs of their documents, including Israeli identity cards. The Israeli foreign ministery confirmed the report.
Al-Alam TV station identified the men as Ahmed Yassin Tukati and Nabil George Yaakub Razuq, apparently from East Jerusalem, and said they were kidnapped by the Ansar a-Din group.
Among the documents shown were two Israeli identity cards, an Israeli driver's license and a supermarket chain discount card.
Earlier it was reported that three Japanese and eight South Koreans were kidnapped in Iraq on Thursday. The Qatar-based TV station al-Jazeera aired video of the Japanese blindfolded.
The South Koreans were nabbed by unidentified "armed men" in Iraq but one was later released, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, citing an official at the Korean Foreign Ministry official in Seoul.
The Foreign Ministry told The Associated Press it did not know who was responsible for the capture of the South Koreans.
In Tokyo, lawmakers said the Japanese were kidnapped by a "terrorist-related group," according to the Japanese news agency Kyodo.
A videotape aired by Al-Jazeera television showed three Japanese identified as two journalists and an aid worker.
The Japanese were blindfolded and surrounded by armed men. The video showed the hostages' passports, confirming their nationality.
The Al-Jazeera report said the kidnappers had threatened to kill their captives, two men and a woman, unless Japan withdraws from southern Iraq.
The Japanese were captured by a group identifying itself as the "Mujahedeen Squadrons," which Al-Jazeera said gave a three-day ultimatum for Japan to declare it will withdraw its forces or they would be killed.
"Three of your sons have fallen into our hands," the Al-Jazeera announcer said, quoting a statement he said came with the video tape. "We offer you two choices: either pull out your troops, or we will burn them alive. We give you three days starting the day this tape is broadcast."
Meanwhile, Shiite fighters held partial control Thursday over two southern Iraqi cities, the top U.S. general in Iraq said, while Sunni fighters killed a U.S. Marine in the battle for Fallujah.
On his part, US Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez said his forces would retake "imminently" the central Iraqi city of Kut, which was seized on Wednesday by supporters of Shiite cleric, Moqtada Sadr.
"We will retake the city of Kut imminently," Sanchez told a press conference in Baghdad on Thursday. (Albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
