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THREAT TO KILL US HOSTAGE |
The man - who gave his name as Thomas Hamill - was taken hostage by masked Iraqi gunmen near Baghdad.
"Up to now your prisoner is being dealt with in the tolerant manner specified by Islamic law," a voice on a tape shown on the Al Jazeera network said.
"Our one request is to break the siege of the city of the mosques (Fallujah) during the 12 hours from six o'clock on Saturday evening.
"If not he will be dealt with worse that those who were killed and burned in Fallujah."
The man was initially filmed by an Australian TV crew - explaining that he had been taken prisoner after his convoy was attacked.
Wearing jeans and a black shirt, he was shown sitting in the back of a car.
Next to him was a hooded gunman who was holding an automatic-rifle on his lap.
The hostage told reporters his name was Thomas Hamill before the car sped away.
An Iraqi man in the front passenger seat, who was masked by a traditional headress, leant out of the window and put his thumb up as the car drove off.
The car drove past a burning truck as it left the scene.
This is the latest in a spate of kidnappings of foreigners in Iraq during the recent upsurge in violence.
The group has threatened to cut off the heads of their prisoners unless US forces lift a blockade of 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. Violence has escalated throughout Iraq, with street fighting in northwest Baghdad and an attack on a fuel convoy west of the city. Two American soldiers and a number of civilians are missing following the attack by militants. The US Army said it had killed 12 rebels in northern Iraq, destroying their truck with a missile after the guerrillas opened fire. US forces also killed three guerrillas after clashes broke out at a demonstration in front of Mosul city hall. |
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I would probably be suspended for saying what I'm thinking right now. Just
G-r-r-r-r-r !What would Carter say about this ? Probably that we should be patient for at
least 444 days and everything will be ok. < /Carter >