ROME, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Two female Italian aid workers were kidnapped in Iraq on Tuesday, barely two weeks after an Italian journalist was executed by Iraqi kidnappers.

    Simona Torretta and Simona Pari, both 29 and working for an Italian charity, Un Ponte Per Baghdad (Bridge to Baghdad), were seized by gunmen from their Baghdad office, the group's press office said in Rome.

    An Iraqi engineer working with them, identified as "Rad", and an Iraqi working for another Italian aid organization, Intersos, were also kidnapped.

    The Italian Foreign Ministry put its crisis unit into action asPrime Minister Silvio Berlusconi returned to Rome from Milan to chair an emergency cabinet meeting on the kidnappings.

    Foreign Minster Fanco Frattini has contacted his counterparts in Iraq, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, who assured him of their "full commitment" to obtaining the Italians' release,the Prime Minister's office said in a statement.

    AID WORKERS ABDUCTED BY ARMED MEN

    The incident took place at 5 pm (1300 GMT) while about 20 gunmen drove up in three cars to the office of the organization and seized the four hostages, a spokesman for the charity said.

    "We had no sign of danger," he said, adding that the women "believed they were working in complete security."

    Torretta was the head of the organization's Iraq operation and Pari project chief of the charity, founded after the first Gulf War in 1991.

    Arab satellite station Al Jazeera said the gunmen had pretendedto be from the Iraqi government.

    According to Italian TV, the two women have been in Iraq for many years and have recently been working with the United Nations children's fund UNICEF.

    According to its Web site, Un Ponte Per Baghdad is a volunteer association aimed at bringing aid to the Iraqi people and opposingsanctions on the country. The organization was supplying water andmedicines to Fallujah, Najaf and Baghdad.

    ITALIAN GOVERNMENT ACTS QUICKLY

    News of the hostage-taking came just as it was announced that Iraqi President Ghazi Al Yawar would be in Rome on Friday as part of his European tour.

    The Italian Foreign Ministry immediately ordered its ambassadorin Iraq, Gianludovico De Martino, to stay in the country rather than return to Italy for Al Yawar's visit.

    In Rome, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi held an emergency meeting Tuesday night with the ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs, as well as with intelligence officials, the premier's office said. Berlusconi came back from northern Italy todiscuss the situation after the kidnappings.

    The government, which was criticized for not doing enough to save the life of an Italian freelance reporter held hostage in Iraq last month, pledged to seek a united national response to theabduction. The government is to meet with the center-left opposition Wednesday on the crisis.

    Italy, a stalwart supporter for the US-led war in Iraq, has been repeatedly hit by hostage crises in Iraq. Five other Italianshad been kidnapped in the country, two of whom had been killed.

    In April, four Italian security guards were abducted, and one was executed. On Aug. 26, journalist Enzo Baldoni was murdered by Iraqi militants after Rome refused to pull its 3,000 soldiers out of the oil-rich country.

    Tuesday was not the first time a woman had been taken hostage in Iraq. Earlier this year a Japanese aid worker was captured and later released. Another woman working for an Iraqi-Italian businessman was briefly held last month.

    Insurgents have kidnapped more than 100 foreigners since the US-led war on Iraq in March 2003. Some have been released but others brutally killed. Enditem