ROME, Feb. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- An Italian journalist was taken hostage on her way to a mosque near Baghdad University in Iraq, local media reported on Friday.

    Giuliana Sgrena of left-wing daily Il Manifesto was driving with her interpreter to the mosque when a group of armed men stopped the vehicle and took her away.

    The interpreter immediately reported the incident, which has been confirmed by Iraqi security forces and another journalist who dialed Sgrena's mobile number only to hear her muffled sounds of being bundled away.

    Four Italian hostages, including a security guard, a free-lancereporter, an Italian-Iraqi businessman and an Italian-born naturalized Briton, have been killed in the violence-plagued country.

    Two Italian women aid workers were held for three weeks before being released last summer. Enditem