An American hostage in Iraq has been executed by his captors, who said they also will kill a second American and a Briton they are holding, a message on an Islamist Web site said Monday. "Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi has beheaded the first American. The group will next behead the others," the statement said.
Al-Zarqawi is the leading activist of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network in Iraq.
Later, a video posted on the Internet showed one of the hostages - American Eugene Armstrong - being executed. After finishing his statement, a masked man pulled a knife, rushed to the hostage from behind and cut his throat until the head was severed.
The victim gasped loudly as blood poured from his neck. His killer held up the head at one point, and placed the head on top of the body.
"The fate of the first infidel was cutting off the head before your eyes and ears. You have a 24-hour opportunity. Abide by our demand in full and release all the Muslim women, otherwise the head of the other will follow this one," the speaker said.
On Saturday, Tawhid and Jihad group said it would slit the throats of the two Americans and the Briton unless Iraqi women were freed from Abu Ghraib and Umm Qasr jails in 48 hours.
The speaker on the tape called US President Bush "a dog" and addressed him, saying, "Now, you have people who love death just like you love life. Killing for the sake of God is their best wish, getting to your soldiers and allies are their happiest moments, and cutting the heads of the criminal infidels is implementing the orders of our lord."
Meanwhile, another group released 18 Iraqi soldiers it had threatened to kill.
In the northern city of Mosul, a car rigged with explosives blew up killing all three inside the vehicle in what was probably a premature detonation of the bomb, police said.
Also in the north, resistance fighters fired on a U.S. patrol with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades Monday, killing an American soldier, the US Army declared. The soldier was killed near Sharqat, some 270 kilometers north of Baghdad, The AP reported.
In a separate incident in the same area, two Turkish journalists and two Turkish Red Crescent workers were wounded after gunmen opened fire on their vehicle, police said. (albawaba.com)
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
