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Video: 2 Pakistani hostages killed


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Fresh reprieve for Indian truck drivers kidnapped in Iraq.

Relatives of Pakistani hostages pleaded for their release.

Foreigners in Iraq have been kidnapped for some time now, but Iraqis are targeted mostly for financial gain.
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(CNN) -- A group calling itself The Islamic Army has released video showing the bodies of two Pakistani men it had taken hostage, according to Al-Jazeera.

The Arabic-language news network did not broadcast the tape.

The group said it had released a third hostage -- an Iraqi -- because "he repented." The three men were working for the Kuwaiti company Al-Tamimi when their capture was announced Monday.

The dead Pakistanis were identified as Raja Azad, 49, an engineer, and Sajad Naeem, 29, a driver.

The militants said the men were killed because Pakistan has announced it is considering sending troops to Iraq. They threatened to kill more of the company's employees if it did not stop doing business in Iraq.

Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, and Prime Minister Chaudary Shujaad received the news "with great distress and anguish," said Akram Shaheedi, a spokesman for the Pakistani government in Islamabad.

"Their hearts go out in sympathy to the bereaved families and they share their grief and sorrow along with millions of Pakistanis. Those who have committed this crime have caused the greatest harm both to humanity and Islam.

"Pakistan has always condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and believes that these barbaric acts can never be justified.

"The president and prime minister reiterated Pakistan's firm commitment to the sovereignty and independence of Iraq and hope that Iraq and its people will see complete sovereignty and stability free of internal and external turmoils."

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Masood Kahn called it "a horrendous crime that these people have committed against innocent people and against a nation."

"They were poor migrant workers; they had nothing to do with international politics," he told CNN.

The hostagetakers apparently made a "unilateral determination that these two Pakistanis were working for the Americans, or were spying for the Americans," he said.

They appear to have based that on a picture they had showing one of the men standing next to a U.S. military commander, Kahn said.

Meanwhile, a Kuwaiti company negotiating the release of seven truck drivers kidnapped Wednesday said negotiations were "going very good."

"We are just waiting now," said a representative of Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport Co.

The seven drivers -- three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian -- are being held by a group calling itself the Islamic Secret Army, Black Banners Brigades. (Full story)

Two Jordanian drivers were kidnapped Monday by a group that calls itself the Mujahedeen Corps. The kidnappers demanded that the drilling and contracting company the men work for in Iraq stop doing business with the U.S. military.


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