Terror group claims it kidnapped and freed Allawi family
22/11/2004 - 15:36:13The terror group led by Jordanian Abu Musab al-Zarqawi claimed responsibility today for kidnapping three members of Iraq’s interim prime minister Iyad Allawi’s family.
A cousin of the prime minister, Ghazi Allawi, 75, was abducted by gunmen from his Baghdad home on November 9, along with his wife and his pregnant daughter-in-law. The two women were released five days later and the cousin on Sunday.
After the kidnappings, a previously unknown group identifying itself as Ansar al-Jihad said it held the three, and threatened to behead them unless all Iraqi detainees were released and the attack on the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah halted.
But today, a statement by al-Zarqawi’s group, called al-Qaida of Jihad in Iraq, claimed responsibility for the kidnappings. The group said it had released Ghazi Allawi and his family after determining they were not involved in Allawi’s government.
The group has been responsible for the kidnapping and beheadings of foreigners, including British man Ken Bigley, whose mother is Irish.
<-- BACK TO STORY