Iraq militants threaten to kill US hostage: TV

Tue Dec 6, 8:07 AM ET

DUBAI (Reuters) - An Iraqi militant group has kidnapped a U.S. security consultant and is threatening to kill him in 48 hours unless Washington frees all Iraqi prisoners, according to a video aired by Al Jazeera television on Tuesday.

The man is the seventh Westerner taken hostage by Iraqi gunmen in just over 10 days after a lull in such abductions in recent months following tight security measures by most Westerners.

The grainy video, featuring the logo of the Islamic Army in Iraq, showed a blond, Western-looking man sitting down with his hands tied behind his back. It also showed an American passport and an Arabic identity card bearing the name Ronald Schulz.

Al Jazeera said it could not verify the authenticity of the tape. It said the man worked as a security consultant for the Iraqi housing ministry.

Jazeera said the militants were also demanding the U.S. government pay compensation to Iraqis affected by military offensives led by U.S. troops against militants in the Sunni Muslim-dominated Anbar province, which comprises the restive towns of Ramadi and Falluja.

The Islamic Army in Iraq is one of several insurgent groups battling foreign and Iraqi government forces. Al Jazeera has in the past aired several videos from Iraqi militant groups.

Last year, a group with the same name killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni after Rome refused its demand to pull troops from Iraq.

The kidnapping comes just days after gunmen seized four Christian peace activists -- two Canadians, a Briton and an American -- as well as a German archaeologist and a French engineer in Iraq.

Thousands of civilians have been kidnapped in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's government, including more than 200 foreigners. Some foreigners were seized by criminal gangs seeking ransom but insurgents have also used these hostages to pressure their governments to withdraw their armies from Iraq.

Many hostages have been released, but around 50 have been executed, some by beheadings broadcast on the Internet.

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