Threat to kill Italians - Web site
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (Reuters) -- A purported statement by a previously unknown Iraqi group has threatened that two Italian hostages will be killed unless Italy begins withdrawing its forces from Iraq.
"We will extend our deadline 24 hours from the issue of this statement after that if we don't see Italian soldiers withdrawing from Iraq we will implement execution," said the statement signed by the Islamic Jihad Organization.
The authenticity of the statement, dated September 12, could not be verified.
It appeared on Sunday on the public bulletin board of a Web site often used by militant groups. Sometimes such claims have turned out to be false.
"It is the acts committed by the Italian troops in Iraq which are above all responsible for the (capture of the) two Italians," the statement said.
Aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta were seized at gunpoint in Baghdad on Tuesday along with two Iraqi colleagues.
http://edition.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/europe/09/12/iraq.italians.reut/Killing women? This brings it to a whole new level