Anh Putin cu~ng bi. Al-Quaida hu` teo dze^'
- From: "Khuc" <khucruotdaingandam@xxxxxxxxx>
- Date: 25 Jun 2006 15:02:47 -0700
(Pho Hoa)
Iraqi Qaeda-led group says Russian hostages killed
8.50am Monday June 26, 2006
By Inal Ersan
DUBAI - An al Qaeda-led group has posted video footage on the internet
showing the killing of three men it said were Russian hostages seized
in Iraq earlier this month.
The images, posted on a website often used by militants, showed two
masked militants beheading of a man and the "execution" of another by
shooting. It also showed the beheaded body of a third.
The fate of a fourth hostage was not clear.
"This is the video for carrying out God's ruling against the Russian
diplomats which we present to heal the hearts of believers and in
revenge for our brothers and sisters for the torture and killing they
receive at the hands of the infidel Russian government," the said in a
statement posted on the site.
Before the killings, the video, whose authenticity could not be
verified, showed four men against a dark red backdrop speaking Russian
in statements dated June 13. It did not say when the deaths took place.
In their statements, the bearded men identified themselves and
described the nature of their jobs at the Russian mission in Iraq - a
third secretary, a cook, a driver and a guard.
The Mujahideen Shura Council defended the killings as an eye-for-an-eye
measure, citing a verse of the Koran - Islam's holy book - which says:
"Those who assault you, you shall assault with the same (form) of
assault."
"Beggar scholars (affiliated with governments) will speak that
slaughtering infidels is sacrilegious and so on. We tell them that this
is the book of God, which will be the judge," its statement said.
The sister of one of the hostages, in an appeal to the hostage-takers
broadcast by Al Jazeera television last week, said that her brother was
a Muslim.
The Council, an umbrella group led by Iraq's al Qaeda wing, had
demanded that Russia withdraw its troops from Chechnya and release all
Muslim prisoners.
In Moscow, the Russian Foreign Ministry could not immediately confirm
the report of the deaths.
"At this moment our sources in Iraq have not confirmed the report of
the killing of the Russian hostages," ministry spokesman Mikhail
Kamynin told Ekho Moskvy radio.
"The Foreign Ministry is doing all it can and using all channels to
check the validity of this information." The four embassy staff were
kidnapped and a fifth was killed when gunmen blocked their vehicle in
Baghdad on June 3.
The Mujahideen Shura Council said in an internet posting last week it
was holding the four Russians and had decided to kill them after Moscow
failed to meet its demands.
- REUTERS
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