Bodies of 1 Lebanese, 2 Iraqi hostages found
In separate kidnapping, 7 Turkish contractors released
(CNN) -- A Lebanese national and two Iraqi co-workers who had been taken hostage have been found shot dead, a Lebanese diplomat in Baghdad said Saturday.
The report came as seven Turkish civilian contractors taken hostage in Iraq were released, their employer said Saturday.
In Baghdad, Hassan Hijazi, charge d'affaires of Lebanon's embassy, said the bodies of Lebanese national Hussein Olayyan and two Iraqis -- all kidnapped earlier this week -- were found Saturday.
The three were working for a Lebanese telecommunications company and were found on a road near Ramadi, about 60 miles west of Baghdad.
Another Lebanese, a businessman called Roger al-Hadad, was kidnapped a few weeks ago and released a few days later. A third Lebanese, a businessman who owned a small shop in Baghdad, has not been seen for a month.
Meanwhile, Serdar Adali of Serka Ltd., the employer of the released Turkish contractors, told CNN Turk he knew no other details.
Video released this week showed members of an obscure militant group holding Turkish workers and issuing anti-coalition messages.
The video, obtained by Associated Press Television and released Thursday, showed four people kneeling in front of masked and armed militants. The hostages were holding passports.
In Thursday's footage, one of the militants read a statement calling for Serka to cancel all its contracts with the coalition and pull their employees from Iraq.
The statement also said that the hostages would be treated humanely "in appreciation" of Turkish protests against the prisoner abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad.
A video shown on Tuesday showed three other Turks surrounded by militants pointing their guns at them.
