Iraq hostages survive deadline, UN envoy slams US-led invasion

The kidnappers of seven foreign truckers stayed a threat to start
executing their hostages, as insurgent violence claimed at least seven
lives across the country and UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi blamed the US-led
invasion for bringing terrorism to Iraq.

But even as one group of kidnappers backed off its grisly death threat,
a separate armed group threatened to kill an Iraqi and two Pakistanis it
claimed to be holding.

Violent attacks claimed at least seven lives across the country, with
four people killed and five others wounded in a suicide strike on a US
base in the main northern city of Mosul.

The victims, who included a child, were killed when a bomber blew up
their car at 8:00 am (0400 GMT), the US military said — although a
cache of munition rounds loaded inside the car failed to explode,
minimising the damage.

"One Iraqi civilian and one child were killed when the car exploded. One
Iraqi facility protective service employee... later died of wounds. The
driver of the vehicle was also killed," the military said in a statement.

In Baghdad, a senior Iraqi police officer at the interior ministry was
shot dead in the latest of a string of killings of top civil servants
since Iraq’s caretaker government was appointed on June 1.

"Colonel Mussab al-Awadi was shot in the early afternoon by unknown
(gunmen) who opened fire in the al-Baya area in western Baghdad," said a
spokesman.

In the main southern city of Basra, two women working at the
British-operated airport were shot dead when their minibus was attacked
in the Mishraq district, according to a medical source.

The United Nations’ envoy to Iraq charged in an interview published in
Austria that the US-led invasion had been a mistake and had brought
terrorism to Iraq.

"The war in Iraq was useless, it caused more problems than it solved,
and it brought in terrorism," said Brahimi, in Austria for an official
visit.

The UN official said he believed Iraq could eventually become a normal
country, but that "the question is, how long that will take and how much
it will cost. So far the cost has been very high."

Iraq’s interim government, he said, faced a challenge in proving that it
was not "a puppet of the Americans, which is difficult to do when there
are 150,000 foreign soldiers in the country."

The caretaker government is fighting to contain the spiralling hostage
crisis. Nearly 20 people are known to be missing or being held for
ransom in the country, a month after the June 28 handover of sovereignty.

An armed group calling itself the Islamic Army threatened to kill an
Iraqi and two Pakistanis it said it was holding, in a statement carried
by the Arabic satellite news channel Al-Jazeera.

Video footage of the Pakistanis’ identity cards identified them as Azad
Hussein Khan and Sajjad Naeem — employees of the Kuwait-based Al-Tamimi
industrial group who went missing on July 23.

The kidnappers’ statement said both Pakistanis were employed by US
forces in Iraq. They threatened all three hostages with death, but set
no deadline for their execution.

Karachi immediately appealed for the release of the two Pakistanis,
saying they were innocents who had nothing to do with international
politics.

But there was new hope for three Indians, three Kenyans and an Egyptian
who were snatched last Wednesday, after their kidnappers stayed a threat
to start executing them.

Film footage of the seven captives shown by Al-Arabiya television
confirmed the authenticity of a statement received by AFP in the name of
the Holders of the Black Banners.

The text said the group had abandoned a threat to start executing
hostages from 1600 GMT Monday to allow negotiations for their release.

"The leadership of the Islamic Secret Army, of which the Holders of the
Black Banners is a division, has decided to extend the deadline in
response to the plea of mediator Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi to continue
negotiations".

The kidnappers have demanded that the Kuwait haulage firm which employed
the seven truckers halt its operations in Iraq.

On Sunday, New Delhi called on the captors to follow the teachings of
Islam and release the three Indians in a televised appeal.

Kenya has sent two diplomats to Kuwait to negotiate the release of its
kidnapped nationals, while the Iraqi government is desperately working
to secure the release of Egyptian diplomat, Mohamed Mamdouh Kotb.

Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi has urged Cairo not to bow to the
kidnappers’ demands, after Manila pulled out troops from Iraq earlier
than planned in exchange for the freedom of a Philippine hostage.

Philippine President Gloria Arroyo went before her country’s Congress to
defend her decision to withdraw troops from Iraq, in the face of fierce
opposition from the United States and Australia (AFP)