Iraqi Militants to Release Somali Hostage

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Mon, Aug. 02, 2004

Iraqi Militants to Release Somali Hostage

TODD PITMAN
Associated Press


BAGHDAD, Iraq - A militant group said Monday that it will release a Somali truck driver it kidnapped because the Kuwaiti company he works for agreed to stop working in Iraq, al-Jazeera television said.

Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's terrorist group Tawhid and Jihad had threatened in an earlier video aired July 29 to behead Ali Ahmed Moussa within 48 hours if his company failed to leave the volatile country. It was not known exactly when he was kidnapped.

In the video broadcast Monday on the Arabic-language network, Moussa appeared kneeling before three black-clad, masked militants armed with assault rifles. One of the militants read a statement, which was inaudible.

The news-reader said the group was releasing Moussa "in appreciation of the attitudes of the Somali government and people toward Iraq and the Kuwaiti company's commitment to stop doing business in Iraq."
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http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/9300251.htm