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["Toni Hawryluk" <tonihawr AT msn.com>]

http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap09-24-085812.asp?reg=mideast&vts=92420041808<http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusintl/ap09-24-085812.asp?reg=mideast&vts=92420041808>

      Number of foreigners taken hostage in Iraq tops 140 
     
      ASSOCIATED PRESS 
     
      Sept. 24 -        Insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped more than 140 
foreigners in their campaign to drive out coalition forces and hamper 
reconstruction: 
             HELD HOSTAGE  

           -Six Egyptians. Two workers for Iraq's mobile phone company 
abducted by gunmen Sept. 24 from an office in Baghdad; four other company 
employees kidnapped outside the capital. 
             -Ten Turkish employees of the construction company VISNAN. 
Kidnapping reported in a video broadcast Sept. 18 and attributed to the 
Salafist Brigades of Abu Bakr al-Siddiq. The Ankara-based company said Sept. 
21 that it was freezing operations in hopes of saving the workers. 
             -Three Lebanese travel agency workers, Fadi Munir Yassin, 
Cherbal Karam Haj and Aram Nalbandian, and their Iraqi driver. Kidnapped 
Sept. 17 on the road between Baghdad and Fallujah. 
             -British engineer Kenneth Bigley. Kidnapped in Baghdad on Sept. 
16 along with two Americans working for Gulf Services Co. of the United Arab 
Emirates. A video issued in the name of Jordanian militant Abu Musab 
al-Zarqawi threatens their lives unless the U.S. frees all Iraqi women in 
custody. The two Americans are later slain. 
             -Italian aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29. 
Abducted in Baghdad on Sept. 7. 
             -Christian Chesnot, 37, and George Malbrunot, 41, French 
journalists. Disappeared Aug. 21 while apparently driving toward Najaf. 
             -Faridoun Jihani, Iranian consul to Karbala. In video made 
public Aug. 7, kidnappers accuse Iran of meddling in Iraq's affairs. 
             -Vlada Abu Ghadi, Lebanese director of Lara construction 
company. Abducted July 31 in Baghdad. 
             -Aban Elias, 41, Iraqi-American. Seized May 3 by group calling 
itself the Islamic Rage Brigade. 
             HOSTAGES KILLED 
             -Jack Hensley, 48, a civil engineer from Marietta, Ga. Internet 
message posted Sept. 21 reports he has been slain by militants loyal to 
al-Zarqawi. His beheaded body found in Baghdad on Sept. 22. 
             -Eugene ''Jack'' Armstrong, 52, formerly of Hillsdale, Mich. A 
video made public Sept. 20 shows his beheading by al-Zarqawi. His body is 
found in Baghdad the same day. 
             -Akar Besir, a Turkish driver. Body found Sept. 21 near Mosul 
after being kidnapped three days earlier, according to Turkish state TRT 
television. 
             -Durmus Kumdereli, Turkish truck driver. Beheaded in a video 
made public Sept. 13 but digitally dated Aug. 17. Video was posted on a Web 
site known for carrying statements from al-Zarqawi's group, Tawhid and Jihad. 
             -Twelve Nepalese workers. One beheaded and 11 shot in the head 
and killed in a video posted on an Islamic Web site Aug. 31. The men worked 
for a Jordan-based construction company. Killings claimed by the Ansar 
al-Sunna Army, a Sunni group that also said Sept. 19 that it beheaded three 
Iraqi Kurds. 
             -Enzo Baldoni, Italian journalist. Reported killed Aug. 26 by 
militants. 
             -Murat Yuce, of Turkey. Shot and killed in video made public 
Aug. 2. Worked for Turkish company Bilintur. 
             -Raja Azad, 49, engineer, and Sajad Naeem, 29, driver, both 
Pakistani, working for Kuwaiti-based firm. Slain July 28. Group calling 
itself Islamic Army in Iraq said they were killed because Pakistan 
considering sending troops to Iraq. 
             -Georgi Lazov, 30, and Ivaylo Kepov, 32, Bulgarian truck 
drivers. Militants loyal to al-Zarqawi suspected of decapitating both men. 
             -Kim Sun-il, 33, South Korea translator. Beheaded June 22 by 
al-Zarqawi's group. 
             -Hussein Ali Alyan, 26, Lebanese construction worker. Found shot 
to death June 12. Lebanese Foreign Ministry says killers sought ransom, not 
political goal. 
             -Fabrizio Quattrocchi, 35, Italian security guard. Killed April 
14. Previously unknown group, the Green Battalion, claimed responsibility. 
             -Nicholas Berg, 26, American businessman. Beheaded by 
al-Zarqawi's group after being kidnapped in April. 
             ESCAPED HOSTAGES 
             -Thomas Hamill, 44, American truck driver. Escaped May 2 after 
being wounded in April 9 ambush on fuel convoy. 
             -Radoslaw Kadri, Polish businessman. Escaped by jumping from car 
near U.S. troops after abduction June 1. 
             HOSTAGES FREED OR RESCUED 
             -Micah Garen, freelance Western journalist, and his Iraqi 
translator. Seized by gunmen Aug. 13. Released after an appeal by aides of 
radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. 
             -James Brandon, British freelance journalist. Kidnapped Aug. 12 
and freed the next day. 
             -Mohammed Mamdouh Helmi Qutb, Egyptian diplomat. Abducted July 
23. Militants said they seized him because Egypt said it would send security 
experts to Iraq. Freed July 26. 
             -Angelo dela Cruz, Filipino truck driver. Kidnapped July 4. 
Freed July 22 after Philippines withdrew 51 troops from Iraq. 
             -Also freed: 23 Turks, 14 Jordanians, 10 Lebanese, five 
Japanese, five Chinese, three Kenyans, three Czechs, three Italians, three 
Indians, two Canadians, two Russians, two Egyptians, a Pakistani, a Somali, a 
Frenchman, a Pole, a Syrian-Canadian, and an Arab Christian from East 
Jerusalem. 
             MISSING IN IRAQ 
             -U.S. Army Spc. Keith M. Maupin, 20, of Batavia, Ohio. 
Disappeared April 9 after an attack on a fuel convoy. Arab television 
reported June 29 that he was killed but did not broadcast a video it said 
showed his shooting death. U.S. military could not confirm that a man shown 
being shot in videotape was Maupin; he is officially listed by the military 
as missing. 
             -William Bradley and Timothy Bell. American contract truckers 
last seen after April 9 convoy attack. 
             RETURNED FROM IRAQ 
             -Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun. Failed to report for duty in 
Iraq June 20. Videotaped images showed him apparently kidnapped. Emerged 
unharmed in Lebanon, July 8. Brought back to the United States. Denies having 
deserted. 
      <> 
     
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