Free Republic

Karachi, 14 March (AKI) - (Syed Saleem Shahzad) - Taliban fighters in Afghanistan have acquired a training video on urban guerilla warfare produced by an Iraqi militant group. A copy of this video, which is in a CD format, has been obtained by Adnkronos International (AKI). The Taliban has received training from the group known as the Islamic Army of Iraq and have brought the CD back to their bases both in Afghanistan and in the tribal areas between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The video is not for propaganda purposes but strictly for training. Many of the leaders of the Islamic...

One is moved by a quotation from the late Enzo Baldoni, the Italian freelance journalist and Red Cross volunteer who was murdered on video by the Jihadis in Iraq this week. "Some people think I am some sort of Rambo who loves strong emotions and watching people die. I am miles away from that. I am a convinced pacifist, and for that reason I am curious to understand what makes normal people brandish guns." Poor Baldoni, who survived previous adventures in East Timor and Colombia, had stopped appearing in the Milan weekly, Diario, and started appearing on Al Jazeera, as...

One is moved by a quotation from the late Enzo Baldoni, the Italian freelance journalist and Red Cross volunteer who was murdered on video by the Jihadis in Iraq this week. "Some people think I am some sort of Rambo who loves strong emotions and watching people die. I am miles away from that. I am a convinced pacifist, and for that reason I am curious to understand what makes normal people brandish guns." Poor Baldoni, who survived previous adventures in East Timor and Colombia, had stopped appearing in the Milan weekly, Diario, and started appearing on Al Jazeera, as...

ROME (AFP) - A defiant Italy said it would not give in to "terrorist blackmail" after the execution of a kidnapped journalist in Iraq (news - web sites) by insurgents who demanded that Rome withdraw its troops from the country. "Terrorist blackmail cannot influence us," Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a joint parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence as he reported on the killing of journalist Enzo Baldoni. And the minister pledged Rome would remain a resolute partner in the US-led coalition, keeping its 3,000-strong military force in southern Iraq "as long as Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi wants...

ROME (AP) _ Pope John Paul II condemned the reported killing of an Italian hostage, and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday vowed Italian troops would not leave Iraq, denouncing the slaying as an act that brings ``us back to the dark ages of barbarity.'' At the Olympics in Athens, Greece, both Iraqi and Italian players were planning to wear black armbands on their uniforms during their bronze medal soccer match later Friday in honor of the murdered Italian journalist. Late Thursday, the Arabic TV network Al-Jazeera reported that it had received images that appeared to show Baldoni's killing, but...

DUBAI (Reuters) - The hostage takers who grabbed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni on the road between Baghdad and Najaf in Iraq have killed him, the Italian government has confirmed. "We can confirm it was him, unfortunately," a spokesman for Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Thursday. Arabic language television channel Al Jazeera said Baldoni's kidnappers killed him because Italy refused to heed their earlier deadline to withdraw troops from Iraq. "The group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq said they executed the Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni because Italy did not respond to their demand to withdraw troops from Iraq...

Italy horror at hostage execution Black arm bands for Italian team at Olympics Friday, August 27, 2004 Posted: 1052 GMT (1852 HKT) Baldoni: "A tragic, incomprehensible, Italian bereavement." ROME, Italy -- Italy reacted with horror at the killing of hostage Enzo Baldoni in Iraq, with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi insisting that Italian troops would not leave. "There are no words for an inhumane act that ... cancels centuries of civilization to bring us back to the Dark Ages," Berlusconi said in a statement. In Athens, Italians competing at the Olympic Games were to honor Enzo Baldoni, 56, by wearing black...

The kidnappers of Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, taken hostage in Iraq, have said that they have killed him, Al Jazeera has reported.     The television station said it had received footage showing Mr Baldoni after he had been killed.A group called the Islamic Army in Iraq had claimed to have seized Mr Baldoni, who disappeared near Najaf several days ago.   The kidnappers were calling for Italy to withdraw its 2,700 troops from Iraq, the third largest foreign military contingent in the country, but Italy has refused.    It said it killed Mr Baldoni because of the refusal, Al Jazeera reported.    As well as reporting for Italian newspapers, Mr Baldoni...

DOHA : An militant group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq has killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni in Iraq, Arabic-language satellite news channel Al-Jazeera reported. The Qatar-based channel did not give any further information. But Italian sources in Iraq confirmed the Al-Jazeera report of Baldoni's death to Italy's Ansa news agency. "These are horrifying pictures," said one Italian source who had seen the videotape purportedly sent by Baldoni's kidnappers to Al-Jazeera. An Italian civil servant was heading for Qatar to obtain a copy of the video, Ansa said. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi reacted immediately Baldoni's death had...

Italian journalist held hostage in Iraq Claire Cozens and agencies Tuesday August 24, 2004 Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni, who has been missing in Iraq since last week, has been kidnapped by militants, according to a video broadcast today on al-Jazeera television station. His driver was found dead at the weekend in Najaf and today an Islamist group said it had abducted an Italian in Iraq, giving Silvio Berlusconi 48 hours to announce it was pulling his troops out of the country.

Italian journalist executed 27/08/2004 00:06 - (SA) Doha - An Islamist group has executed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni in Iraq, Arabic-language satellite news channel Al-Jazeera reported on Thursday. Baldoni's captors, a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, had on Tuesday threatened to kill their hostage unless Italy withdrew its 3 000 troops from Iraq within 48 hours.