Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's group has kidnapped a Somali truck driver in Iraq working for a Kuwaiti company, according to a videotape aired by pan-Arab al-Jazeera TV channel on Thursday.

The footage showed three masked gunmen standing behind the Somali hostage who was seated and waving his passport.

Al-Jazeera said the militants belonging to Tawhid and Jihad (Unity and Holy War), threatened to behead the hostage in 48 hours if the Kuwaiti company he works for does not stop working in Iraq.

The group has claimed a number of kidnappings of foreigners in Iraq, including US businessman Nicholas Berg, South Korean translator Kim Sun-il and Bulgarian truck driver Georgi Lazov, who were beheaded after the captors' demands were not met.