| BAGHDAD, Aug. 20 (Xinhuanet) -- Some 12 Nepalese men may be taken captive in Iraq by a shadowy Islamist group, calling itself the Ansar al-Sunna Army, said a statement posted on an Islamist website Friday.
"A group of heroic mujahedeen (Islamic fighters) managed on thenight of Aug. 19-20 to take 12 people affiliated with a Nepalese company captive," said the statement signed by the army's military command.
The group has seized the Nepali workers because of their cooperation with US forces in Iraq, said the statement, listing the names of the 12 "infidels".
The group promised to publish the hostages' pictures soon "so that they will serve as a lesson to others."
Reports reaching here from Kathmandu said that the Nepalese government had no information about the abduction.
"We have not yet received any information on the seizure of 12 Nepalese workers in Iraq," an official said, adding Nepalese passport holders seem to have gone to Iraq via India and Kuwait or some other Middle East countries.
Scores of foreign hostages have been taken in Iraq by militant groups aimed at driving out individuals, companies and troops supporting US forces and the US-backed Iraqi interim government. Some have been released but at least nine have been killed. Enditem | 
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