Abductors in Iraq set 72-hour ultimatum for Australia's pullout

Kidnappers of an Australian man has set a 72-hour ultimatum for Australia to start withdrawing its troops from Iraq, the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported Friday.

The TV news channel, showing footage of the Australian Douglas Wood, said that "the group calling itself the Shura Council of the Mujahedeen of Iraq, which is holding Australian hostage Douglas Wood, gave Australian authorities 72 hours to start withdrawing their forces from Iraq."

The demand was made by Wood in a video, which showed the man sitting on the ground and holding up his passport as a masked militant pointed a gun at him, added the al-Jazeera.

The TV station did not specify what the militants would do if their deadline isn't met, but a number of previous hostages have been killed.

Earlier in the day, the Australian authorities said a task force that rushed to Baghdad this week had established Wood is still alive.

It was reported that more than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since Saddam Hussein's regime collapsed in April 2003. Some of them have sought ransom, while others pursued political motives such as the withdrawal of foreign companies and troops from Iraq.

Source: Xinhua