Posted on 01/18/2005 7:51:09 AM PST by dead
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Insurgents in Iraq (news - web sites) threatened on Tuesday to kill eight Chinese hostages as Baghdad officials said they would close land borders and restrict traffic across the country in a bid to thwart attacks during next week's election.
A bomb attack on a Shi'ite political party office refreshed fears of sectarian violence by the mostly Sunni insurgents but the swift release of the kidnapped archbishop of Mosul was greeted with relief by the beleaguered Iraqi Christian minority.
Beijing, no ally of the United States and a critic of its invasion of Iraq, was drawn into the anarchy that has followed when insurgents released a video of eight Chinese men and threatened to kill them in 48 hours if China failed to explain why they were apparently building facilities for the Americans.
"The position of the Chinese government toward our cause was clear -- not taking part in invasion forces and their aggression against our country," said a voice on the tape, which showed masked gunmen keeping the men against a wall.
"We call on the Chinese government to clarify its position on them and other Chinese. We will kill them 48 hours after their pictures are televised unless that is done."
The militants identified themselves as being from the Nuamaan Brigade of the Islamic Resistance.
The Chinese state news agency Xinhua said Chinese diplomats in Iraq were working to free the construction workers from Fujian province, who had gone missing last week.
It gave no details of the men's work. Thousands of Asians, including Chinese, are employed by private contractors working to rebuild Iraqi infrastructure and for the U.S. military.
As well as thousands of Iraqis kidnapped mostly for money, dozens of foreigners have been seized for purportedly political ends. Some have been beheaded, though many have been released.
EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES
Twelve days before an election Washington hopes can install a legitimate government, nearly two years after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, officials in Baghdad announced several measures aimed at thwarting insurgents bent on wrecking the Jan. 30 poll.
A statement from Iraq's election commission said land frontier posts would be closed and tight restrictions declared on all vehicle traffic from Jan. 29-31, a set of extraordinary measures aimed at preventing a bloodbath on election day.
Police said a suicide car bomber killed one person and wounded seven outside a Baghdad office used by the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI).
A leading official in SCIRI, one of the main parties from the Shi'ite majority, said the dead man was one of the guards at the building. He said guards had opened fire at the suicide bomber's vehicle as it approached a checkpoint.
A candidate from the party of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a secular Shi'ite, was also killed in Basra, officials said.
The polls have divided Iraq, with most of the 60 percent Shi'ite majority insisting the vote goes ahead to cement their political dominance after decades of oppression under Saddam, while many of Saddam's fellow Sunni Arabs say the election should be delayed because of widespread violence.
The raging insurgency in the Sunni Arab heartland means that many Sunnis who want to vote say they are too afraid to do so. Several leading Sunni Arab parties say they will boycott the polls because the results will not be fair.
Iraq's interior minister, a Sunni, said Tuesday a Sunni boycott could mean civil war. "Participating is important. Boycotting means betrayal and the sparking of civil war," Falah al-Naqib told a news conference.
Last month, a suicide car bomb at the SCIRI headquarters in Baghdad killed several people, and nearly 70 were killed in twin suicide bombings in the Shi'ite holy cities of Najaf and Kerbala. Insurgents have also attacked representatives of Iraq's most revered Shi'ite cleric, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
ARCHBISHOP FREED
In another sign of religious violence before the polls, the Iraqi Catholic archbishop of Mosul was seized at gunpoint on Monday in what the Vatican (news - web sites) called an act of terrorism.
But Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa, 66, was freed by his captors Tuesday and no ransom was paid, the Vatican said.
"As soon as they found out I was a bishop, their attitude changed ... I think that my abduction was a coincidence. In recent times, there have been numerous kidnappings around here," Casmoussa told Vatican Radio.
Besides attacks on Shi'ites, insurgents have mounted suicide car bombings and ambushes against Iraq's beleaguered security forces, who are supposed to provide security for the elections but are struggling just to protect themselves.
Election centers, many of them in schools around the country, have also come under repeated attack.
The U.S. military said three soldiers assigned to the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force were killed in western Iraq on Monday, but gave no further details. The military did not say whether the deaths were connected to a suicide bomb attack on a U.S. patrol in the restive Sunni city of Ramadi Monday.
I thought--According to Liberals only Haliburton was getting work in Iraq.Now we hear of the Chinese getting work. No matter who works these insurgents want a failed Iraq one in which their chaos can go unchecked.
How long can other countries stand by and watch as Islamics make war against the rest of the world.
Make no mistake, China already knows and accepts Islam as a threat... there is a province in china that is mostly Muslim and they keep an eye on them very closely...
China isn't hampered by this western PC crapola... they know the enemy quite well.
"How long can other countries stand by and watch as Islamics make war against the rest of the world."
As long as it takes for Bush to be defeated. Its that simple.
biting the hand that roots for them. May as well kidnap the French. Oh, they did that.
I think the only thing that will satisfy terrorist murderers is to be killed.
I thought--According to Liberals only Haliburton was getting work in Iraq.Now we hear of the Chinese getting work.
There’s a pretty good chance these unfortunate Chinese men were working for Halliburtion or one of its subcontractors.
The hajis had better not mess with China. They got no sense of humor over this kind of thing, unlike the leftists here in the states. If they piss off the Chinese they could give everyone a rifle, walk to Baghdad, lose 99% of their population along the way and still have 13 million troops bent on revenge.
I can just imagine dumb and dumber when they realized they had screwed up - I have a visual of the Three Stooges. However, I believe they knew who he was....they just weren't ready for the negative world opinion of this action.
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A frame grab taken from amateur video footage January 18, 2005 shows two masked gunmen guarding eight Chinese hostages at an unknown location in Iraq (news - web sites). Insurgents threatened to kill the hostages in 48 hours unless the Beijing government clarified their role in the country. (Reuters) |
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"Baghdad officials said they would close land borders and restrict traffic across the country in a bid to thwart attacks during next week's election."
what's their rush? [sarcasm alert]
"Insurgents threatened to kill the hostages in 48 hours unless the Beijing government clarified their role in the country."
Oh, I think that kind of ultimatum will help clarify China's policy all right. Thanks, terrorists, for the belated Christmas present.
Evil shows its ugly head and no cover can hide it.
Islamic Eye For The Chinese Guys?
"Oh, I think that kind of ultimatum will help clarify China's policy all right. Thanks, terrorists, for the belated Christmas present."
Bet you a dollar China does nothing and these hostages are killed.
This is a meaningless and sillily dramatic comment.
Make no mistake, the ChiComs supported Hussen and currently Iran and further -- make no mistake lest ye be mistaken -- the ChiComs want influence now in the new Iraq and --- Hear Ye, hear ye well --- any religious is a threat to the ChiComs, interestingly, historically, with Islam being the least of them.
Nonsense.
Chinese nationals have been killed by suicide bombers in Israel, in one case only days prior to a major speech by Jiang Zemin in one of China's Muslim ally states and the speech was still nothing but praise for Arafat and condemnation of Israel.
The ChiComs really couldn't care less about 8 contstruction workers. They will try and use this as leverage against us in gaining more influence over the new Iraqi government.
Watch for whether or not this incident is given major play in the Chinese meda or not.
I can't believe they announced when they would close the borders.
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