AP: Austrian hostage killed in Iraqs

[Eugene]

Friday, November 17, 2006 · Last updated 4:29 a.m. PT

Austrian hostage killed in Iraqs

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An Austrian was killed and an American was seriously wounded
after their convoy of security contractors was hijacked in southern Iraq,
an Iraqi police officer said Friday.

The body of the Austrian hostage was brought to a morgue in the city of Basra
at 2:30 p.m. Friday, and the wounded American captive was taken there so he
could be transferred to a British military hospital, the Basra officer said
on condition of anonymity out of concern for his own security.

In Vienna, Astrid Harz, a spokeswoman for the Austrian foreign ministry, confirmed
that a 25-year-old Austrian male from Upper Austria had been kidnapped when the
Crescent Security Group convoy was hijacked in southern Iraq on Thursday. However,
she could not confirm that he had been killed.

U.S. officials could not immediately be contacted about the report that the American
had been wounded.

-snip-

Full article: http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1107AP_Iraq_Captives_Retrieved.html

[leftchick]

1. Crescent Security Group aka: Mercenary Thugs

http://www.crescentsecuritygroup.com/

[ECH1969]

2. Fighting breaks out after Iraq hijacking

British ground forces and U.S. military helicopters fought with gunmen Friday in southern Iraq where four American security contractors and their Austrian co-worker were abducted in a convoy hijacking.

The Austrian was found dead and one of the Americans was found gravely wounded, an Iraqi police officer said. The three Americans who were among the five Crescent Security Group employees taken hostage remained missing in the largely Sunni area.

In Vienna, Astrid Harz, a spokeswoman for the Austrian foreign ministry, confirmed that a 25-year-old Austrian man had been kidnapped when the Crescent Security Group convoy was hijacked in southern Iraq on Thursday. She could not confirm that he had been killed.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/world/4342495.html

[Nimrod2005]

3. We just need to leave this god damn place...Just pick up and leave!

[Lance_Boyle]

4. no doubt.

But we should leave the mercenaries there for the locals to play with. I don't want the fucking thrill-killers-for-hire coming back here.

[leftchick]

5. Firefight rages in Iraq near kidnap site

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061117/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_061117183254

BAGHDAD, Iraq - British ground forces and U.S. military helicopters fought with gunmen Friday in southern Iraq where four American security contractors and their Austrian co-worker were abducted in a convoy hijacking.

As the coalition forces searched the area around the border city of Safwan for the Crescent Security Group employees, confusion grew about what had happened to the captives.

A top Iraqi police official in Basra said none of the five kidnapped security company employees had been freed. He claimed the provincial governor, who announced the release of two of the hostages, had confused separate incidents in the region involving private security forces.

Basra police Maj. Gen. Ali al-Moussawi said the five kidnap victims — four Americans and an Austrian taken when their convoy was hijacked Thursday near the Kuwait border — still were in the hands of what he called a criminal gang. He said the kidnappers had demanded a ransom but would not elaborate.

Al-Moussawi said police believed the five were being held in the Safwan region along with trucks from the convoy.

[daleo]

6. Fallujah was destroyed over the deaths of four mercenaries

So, this could get bad too. Bush actually cares about mercenaries.