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A combo picture grabbed from a
video shows the four Russian diplomats abducted in Baghdad. A group linked
to the al-Qaida terror network in Iraq announced on Sunday that it had
executed four Russian Embassy workers it kidnapped in Baghdad.(Xinhua/AFP
photo)
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CAIRO,
June 25 (Xinhua) -- A group linked to the al-Qaida terror network in Iraq
announced on Sunday that it had executed four Russian Embassy workers it
kidnapped in Baghdad, the pan-Arabal-Arabiya satellite TV reported.
"We have carried out God's verdict on the four
Russian diplomats...in retaliation for the torture, killing and expulsion of our
brothers and sisters by the Russian government," reported the TV, citing a
statement posted on a Web site frequently used by Islamist militants.
The statement was signed by the Mujahedeen Shura
Council, which is believed to be an umbrella grouping several insurgent groups
in Iraq including al-Qaida.
The statement was accompanied by pictures showing the
four Russian Embassy staff as well as a videotape.
The four hostages appeared at the beginning of the
videotape, speaking Russian. Then the tape showed the beheading of one hostage
and the shooting of a second and a beheaded body of a third.
There was no immediate comment from Russia.
The same group threatened on Wednesday to execute the
four Russian Embassy staff as the Russian government failed to meet its demands.
"The Russian government has failed to do what we have
demanded within 48 hours... so the Islamic court of the Mujahideen Shura Council
ruled to execute the hostages," said the group in another statement posted on
the same Web site.
The group had demanded the Russian authorities in a
separate Internet statement on June 19 to "withdraw immediately from Chechnya"
where Muslim rebels are fighting Moscow's rule and "release all our brothers and
sisters detained in Russian prisons" within 48 hours, warning Russia to "take
the consequences" if it failed to do so.
It also slammed the presence of Russian diplomats in
Baghdad, which it said was to support "the crusaders' project led by America"
and to "provide international backing and legitimacy to the exhausted Iraqi
government."
The group claimed that it had kidnapped the four
Russian Embassy employees and killed a fifth in west of Baghdad on June 3.
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