Kidnappers threaten to kill hostage unless UK troops leave Iraq

Kidnappers holding five British hostages have threatened to kill one of them in 10 days unless British forces leave Iraq. The threat came in a video which shows one of the men sitting on the floor surrounded by gunmen pointing assault rifles at him.

"My name is Jason," says the bearded hostage in the video which was shown on al-Arabiya television. "Today is 18 November. I have been here now 173 days and I feel we've been forgotten."

The five Britons four security guards and a computer consultant were seized from the finance ministry in Baghdad on 29 May by 40 men in police uniforms driving police vehicles. The hostage yesterday was sitting in front of a banner reading Shia Islamic Resistance in Iraq. Previously the kidnappers were reported to be demanding the release of a senior Shia cleric being held by the Americans.

A written statement from the hostage-takers said that if Britain failed to leave Iraq within 10 days "this hostage will be killed as a first warning, which will be followed with details that you do not want to know". It said the hostages had admitted to plans to plunder Iraqi wealth under the cover of working as consultants in the finance ministry.

The original kidnapping at the finance ministry data processing centre in east Baghdad underlines the vulnerability of foreigners since many units of the police in Baghdad take orders from Shia militia commanders. US military officials said in September that rogue elements of the Mehdi Army were behind the kidnap. The Foreign Office said: "We condemn the publication of this video which serves only to add to the distress of the men's family and friends."

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber killed six people and injured 25 when he blew himself up outside a police station in Jalawla, a mixed Kurdish-Sunni Arab town in Diyala province. There have been frequent clashes in the town before, including clashes between Kurdish and Arab policemen.

Violence has dropped sharply in Iraq since mid-summer but the fall has been greater in Baghdad than elsewhere. The Iraqi government said 538 civilians were killed in Iraq in November, which is a quarter of the monthly figure at the beginning of the year. At the same time the Baghdad government had made every effort to massage the figures downwards.

There are signs that some of the 2.2 million Iraqis who fled the country, mostly to Syria and Jordan, since 2003 are returning because of improved security. The Red Crescent said between 25,000 and 28,000 had come back from Syria. Some refugees go back to Iraq because they cannot earn a living there and the Syrian government has tightened up visa regulations.

Interesting? Click here to explore further