Turkish hostage killed in Iraq

[Barrett808]

Sep 14 - A videotape apparently showing the beheading of a Turkish driver kidnapped last month in Iraq surfaced on Monday on the Web site of an Al-Qaida-linked militant group.

On the video, purportedly a production of Tawhid and Jihad - the group believed led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - the victim identifies himself as Durmus Kumdereli. Speaking in Turkish, he says he was transporting goods to an American military base in Mosul.

Arabic subtitles accompanied his words. Afterward, a black screen reading "The execution" appears, followed by warnings from masked, armed militants to foreign drivers and grisly footage of the beheading.

The authenticity of the tape, which was digitally dated August 17, could not be verified. It appeared on a Web site known for carrying Tawhid and Jihad statements that had been inaccessible in recent days before resurfacing Monday at a new address.

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http://www.sunnetwork.org/news/world/world.asp?id=13908