Internet statement: Italian women hostages killed

A group, calling itself the "Jihad Organization" and claiming to have kidnapped two female Italian aid workers in Iraq, said they had killed the hostages, according to a statement posted Thursday on an Islamist website.

"We in the Jihad Organization in Iraq announce that the ruling of God Almighty has been implemented on the two Italian prisoners by slaughter," the statement said.

An Iraqi militant group known as Jihad Organization claims to have killed two Italian female aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta (R) in Iraq. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

The statement was posted on a website not regularly used to make such claims. Its authenticity could not be verified immediately.

The statement said the hostages were executed after the Italian government headed by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi ignored their only condition of pulling out of Iraq.

"We will turn Iraq into a graveyard for you and for anyone who ventures to attack Muslims," the statement added.

But Italy's ANSA news agency Thursday quoted sources close to Berlusconi as saying the authorities had no information to confirm the execution, adding that the claims should be treated with utmost caution.

Italian state radio also quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Michele Valensise as saying that there has been no confirmation of the claim.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini was in contact with the Italian embassy in Iraq, the radio reported.

The hostages, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari, were both 29 years old and working for an Italian charity, Un Ponte Per Baghdad(Bridge to Baghdad). They were seized by gunmen from their Baghdad office on Sept. 7.

An Iraqi engineer working with them, identified as "Rad", and an Iraqi working for another Italian aid organization, Intersos, were also kidnapped.

The Italian Foreign Ministry put its crisis unit into action as Prime Minister Berlusconi returned to Rome from Milan to chair an emergency cabinet meeting on the kidnappings.

Another group, which called itself the Islamic Jihad Organization, claimed to be holding the two aid workers on Sept. 12. It issued a new ultimatum demanding that Berlusconi's government order the withdrawal of all Italian forces deployed in Iraq.

It warned that if their demands were not met, then "we will execute the sentence of God which will be to slit the throats of the two Italian hostages, if God will it."

The group also said that the kidnapping of the two aid workers was the direct result of the actions of the Italian contingent in Iraq and no alternative was acceptable to the withdrawal of these troops.

Only on Wednesday, Italian media reported that the Italian secret service had made indirect contact with the kidnappers and believed they were alive.

Italy, a staunch supporter for the US-led war in Iraq, has been repeatedly hit by hostage crises in Iraq. Five other Italians had been kidnapped in the country, two of whom had been killed.

In April, four Italian security guards were abducted, and one was executed. On Aug. 26, journalist Enzo Baldoni was murdered by Iraqi militants after Rome refused to pull its 3,000 soldiers out of the oil-rich country.

It was not the first time a woman had been taken hostage in Iraq. Earlier this year a Japanese aid worker was captured and later released. Another woman working for an Iraqi-Italian businessman was briefly held last month.

Insurgents have kidnapped more than 100 foreigners since the US-led war on Iraq. Some have been released but some others were brutally killed.

Source: Xinhua