Iranian TV: Previously unknown group claims responsibility for abduction of Westerners in Iraq

[ECH1969]

A previously unknown group has claimed responsibility for abducting a private security team of four Americans and an Austrian in southern Iraq, according to an Iranian-run Arabic-language satellite news station.

Al-Alam television posted a report on its Web site Saturday saying the group, called Islamic Companies, claimed responsibility for the kidnapping.

The network said the group released a videotaped message saying that it was holding the five men. The Web site report could not immediately be verified.

A photo with the report showed an unidentified man whose face was covered with a checkered Arabic head dress reading the statement. He demanded the withdrawal of American forces and the release of all prisoners in Iraq.

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