A Kuwaiti paper said that the two kidnapped Italian aid workers in Iraq were
in good health and being treated well by their kidnappers, Italian News Agency
ANSA reported yesterday.
The Al Ray Al-Aam, Kuwait's top newspaper, said the kidnappers would not
release the women Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, untilItalian troops were
withdrawn from Iraq.
The daily said it had been told by its sources that "all mediation attempts
will be rejected unless Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi's government respects
the kidnappers' request for the complete withdrawal of Italian forces from Iraqi
territory."
"They are determined not to free them until their demand has been met," it
said.
It also said two Iraqi aid workers kidnapped along with the Italians were
being used as interpreters.
The paper denied recent claims that the two had been or were about to be
killed.
It said its sources had confirmed that the two women had been kidnapped in
order to "send a clear message to the Italian people and the Silvio Berlusconi
government: that the Iraqi people denounces the sending of Italian troops to
Iraq and calls for the courageous decision to withdraw them, like the Spanish
government which pulled its troops out in order to retain its friendly ties with
the Iraqi people."
Italy has some 3,000 troops serving in Iraq and Berlusconi has repeatedly
said that they will remain there for as long as the government considers
necessary.
Torretta and Pari, both 29, were kidnapped on September 7 alongwith two Iraqi
aid workers.
Italian intelligence has cast doubts on the reliability of the death claims.
On September 12, a group calling itself the Islamic Jihad Organization said
it would kill the women within 24 hours if Italian troops were not pulled out of
Iraq.
On Thursday, the group said in a statement posted on the Internet that the
hostages had been killed.
On the same day, a group claiming to support al Qaeda No.2 Ayman al-Zawahri
said it had beheaded the two women.