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Iraqi Police Find Body of Egyptian Hostage
VOA News
05 Sep 2004

Police in Iraq say they have found the body of an Egyptian man reportedly kidnapped by militants nine days ago.

Police said Sunday the man was found along the roadside near a town north of Tikrit with his hands and feet tied. His abduction had not been previously reported.

French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier said Sunday his government believes two French journalists held hostage for more than two weeks in Iraq are in good health. Mr. Barnier said work continues to gain their release. He made the comments in Paris after meeting with French President Jacques Chirac.

Yet another apparent hostage incident in Iraq came to light Saturday when an Islamic group said it was holding a Turkish truck driver.

Meanwhile, Islamic militants in Iraq who say they released seven foreign hostages last week are calling on senior Muslim clerics to issue a religious edict clarifying whether kidnapping foreigners who work for coalition forces is acceptable under Islam.

A videotaped statement by the militants was aired on Al-Arabiya television Sunday. They pledged to comply if a fatwa issued by a group of senior Muslim scholars explains whether or not taking hostages under such circumstances is a justifiable act.

A man identified as a member of the hostage-takers said on the video that he was confident that all members of the Islamic resistance in Iraq would abide by such a religious ruling by Iraq's Committee of Ulema, if the fatwa is "in the interest of Islam, jihad and Iraq."

Neither the origin nor the authenticity of the video could be confirmed.

Three Indian nationals, three Kenyans and an Egyptian who had been held hostage for more than a month were freed last week after their employer, a company based in Kuwait, agreed to end its operations in Iraq. A group calling itself "the Holders of the Black Banners" claimed responsibility for the hostages' release.

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.