visioninthedark

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...e_mi_ea/iraq_1

Captors Say Marine, Pakistani Held in Iraq
1 hour, 8 minutes ago

By CHRIS TOMLINSON, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Arab television broadcast videotape Sunday of two hostages said to be of Pakistani origin, one of them a blindfolded U.S. Marine militants claimed to have lured from his base and taken captive. Insurgents threatened to behead them both.






Also, militants hit a U.S. Air Force transport plane with small arms fire after takeoff from Baghdad's airport, killing a passenger and forcing the aircraft to return. Turkey rejected demands by militants who threatened to behead three Turkish hostages unless Turkish companies cut ties to U.S. forces.


There was no immediate comment from the U.S. military about the Marine captive shown on the Al-Jazeera network, but the video showed a card identifying the man by a Pakistani name and as an "active duty" Marine. The man had a trimmed mustache and his eyes were covered with a white blindfold.


Al-Jazeera said the group demanded the release of all Iraqis "in occupation jails" or the man would be killed.


The group identified itself as "Islamic Response," the security wing of the "National Islamic Resistance — 1920 Revolution Brigades" referring to the uprising against the British after World War I.


The group, which has claimed responsibility for previous anti-American attacks, was first heard from in an Aug. 12 statement in which it claimed the United States was hiding its casualty tolls in Iraq (news - web sites) to help President Bush (news - web sites)'s election chances.


U.S. officials believe the insurgency consists of several groups with different ideologies, among them Arab nationalists, former Baath Party members and Islamic extremists.


Earlier Sunday, another Pakistani hostage was shown on a tape broadcast by a different Arab television station, Al-Arabiya. Four masked gunmen threatened to decapitate him if American troops don't release prisoners in several areas of central Iraq within the next three days.


It was unclear how either set of kidnappers was linked to Jordanian terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who claimed responsibility for the decapitation deaths of American Nicholas Berg and South Korean Kim Sun-il last week.


In Baghdad, meanwhile, an American soldier was killed Sunday when a rocket slammed into a U.S. base on the southeastern outskirts of the city, the military said.


Threats against hostages as well as attacks on U.S. and Iraqi security forces have accelerated as Iraq's interim government prepares to assume sovereignty Wednesday.


Gunmen dressed in black killed six soldiers of the Iraqi National Guard, formerly the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps, and wounded four others at a checkpoint in Jalawla, 75 miles northeast of Baghdad.


The U.S. Air Force C-130 was flying about 12 miles west of Baghdad when it received small arms fire about 5 p.m., U.S. officials said. The plane returned to Baghdad International Airport, and a wounded person died at a U.S. military hospital, the military said.


Attacks against U.S. aircraft around Baghdad have occurred before, although no fixed-wing planes have been shot down. The main road linking the airport to central Baghdad also has become increasingly dangerous because of ambushes.


In Istanbul, Turkish Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul rejected demands by al-Zarqawi's group for Turkish companies to quit doing business with U.S. troops in Iraq to spare the lives of the three Turkish hostages.


"Turkey will not bow to pressure from terrorists," Gonul told the private CNN-Turk and TV8 television stations.


The demand was issued as Bush and other Western leaders gathered in Turkey for a NATO (news - web sites) summit Monday. Turkey, the only Muslim nation in NATO, was put in a difficult position trying to balance alliance solidarity with national interests.


The U.S. mission in Iraq is deeply unpopular in Turkey, and it was feared that any killing of Turkish hostages could intensify anger against the United States.

More than 40 people from several countries have been abducted in Iraq since April — many of them released or freed by coalition soldiers. Several kidnappings have been blamed on the al-Zarqawi group.

In one of the hostage videos Sunday, a Pakistani driver displayed an identification card issued by the U.S. firm Kellogg, Brown & Root. His kidnappers did not say whether they were affiliated with any group. KBR is a subsidiary of Vice President (news - web sites) Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s former company Halliburton.

Unlike some previous hostage cases, the tape did not feature the banner of al-Zarqawi's group and it appeared to have been shot outdoors.

The masked gunmen, who held assault rifles across their chests, said they would behead the Pakistani within three days unless the Americans freed prisoners held at Abu Ghraib and three cities of central Iraq — Balad, Dujail and Samarra. The gunmen said they captured the Pakistani near the U.S. base at Balad, 50 miles north of Baghdad.

The hostage, who gave his name as Amjad, urged Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf to close the Pakistani Embassy in Iraq and to ban Pakistanis from coming to Iraq.

"I'm also Muslim, but despite this they didn't release me," he said, bowing his head. "They are going to cut the head of any person regardless of whether he is a Muslim or not."

Also Sunday, three rockets exploded near one of Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s former palaces in the Green Zone, the heavily guarded headquarters of the U.S.-run occupation. U.S. officials said the blasts caused no damage or casualties.

At sunset, guerrillas fired a second volley of several mortars into the heart of Baghdad, killing two children playing near a bank of the river Tigris, an Interior Ministry official said.

Three mortar shells also fell in the northern city of Mosul, hitting an office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, a pro-U.S. political party. One party member was killed and nine others were injured, including two civilians.

Also in Mosul, gunmen killed a policeman in a drive-by shooting, police said. In a separate attack, gunmen struck an Iraqi army recruiting with rifle-fire in another drive-by, injuring one guard.

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ChrisF202

Hopefully there will be more action against the terrorists by the Iraqi people now that they see the terrorists are taking fellow Muslims hostage.

Lunatock

And these terrorists think that the Turks & Pakistani's are just going to run away if a few of their people are brutally murdered?

turnagainarm

The marine is not of Pakistani origin, he is Lebanese American.

Ray

I believe Fox Radio has stated that the man is a Lebanese. Should that mean he is a Shia? If so, obviously that man's loss (murder to be precise) will not mean much to UBL.

__________________


"Some have learnt many Tricks of sly Evasion, Instead of Truth they use Equivocation, And eke it out with mental Reservation, Which is to good Men an Abomination."

I don't have to attend every argument I'm invited to.

HAKUNA MATATA

visioninthedark

YAHOO REPORTED HIS AS BEING OF pAKISTANI ORIGIN INITIALLY AS YOU CAN SEE FROM THE NEWS QUOTE ABOVE ... i THINK IT WAS A MIXUP ...

Ray,

Judging from his name ... it is highly probable he is Shia .... these arab wahabbi dogs would love to behead him ... its a double score for them ... an american marine + a Shia Muslim .....

ChrisF202

Is their any idea of where hes being held? Im guessing somewhere in the border area between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, or even inside Saudi Arabia as with Paul Johnson.

Lunatock

You should read what the marines that post on Pre-Ban & Arfcom are saying. The ones that are able to post here are likely less wound up than those in Iraq, and the 'Rines stateside are predicting a lot of them to break rank, not care about damaging thier careers, and go through Falluja like they should have, but were ordered to stand down.

smilingassassin

The marines should have been sliped from their leashes to unleash hell on Falluja and put a bullet in sadr's head. Its still not to late to reconsider.

Ray

Blasted Bin Laden, laden with muck. If he is all for Islam then the fools can't understand that a Shia also follows the sayings of the Prophet. He is a PIG.

visioninthedark

My dear Ray Sahab,

since when are you under the illusion that that arab pig is following Islam ... ???

he follows a CULT called WAHHABISM .... the same cult followed by the saudi "royal" scum .... and the majority of saudis ....


he is the follower of an EVIL cult and the leader of yet another EVIL cult ...



falluja .... I am surprised why the hell is it still in existance .... I had better opinion of the US marines .... !!!

ChrisF202

Yes, im surpised as well. i expected to see a leaflet fall on the city saying "Get the f--- out withen 24 hours or die" then see the whole city razed.

smilingassassin

They need the Duke to come back from the dead to leadthem into battle.

Confed999

Cut the Marines loose, "Cry 'HAVOC' and let slip the
dogs of war!".

__________________
No man is free until all men are free - John Hossack
I agree completely with this Administration’s goal of a regime change in Iraq-John Kerry
even if that enforcement is mostly at the hands of the United States, a right we retain even if the Security Council fails to act-John Kerry
He may even miscalculate and slide these weapons off to terrorist groups to invite them to be a surrogate to use them against the United States. It’s the miscalculation that poses the greatest threat-John Kerry

ChrisF202

The Duke? Im assuming you mean John Wayne. In that case I totally agree, would be nice to see him plop down on some Iraqi sand dune and pick off a few dozen rebels in the same manner he picked off Japs, Mexicans, Indians, bandits etc