4 foreign aid workers kidnapped in Iraq

Iraqi students raise a picture of Saddam Hussein during a demonstration in the city of Tikrit, north of Baghdad, demanding the immediate release of ousted dictator Saddam Hussein yesterday. The trial of Saddam reopened yesterday with the once all-powerful leader finally faced the testimony of his accusers after a five-week break.. PHOTO: AFP

The attacks came as the trial of ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and seven former regime henchmen were due to go on trial on charges including murder and torture over a 1982 Shia massacre.

The governments of the hostages, however, have not released any further details on the four, such as the organisations the workers belonged to or the circumstances of the kidnapping.

The British Foreign Office, which only revealed that the kidnapped Briton was named Norman Kemp, said the matter was under investigation.

Another three British nationals of Indian origin were killed yesterday when a small bus carrying Shia pilgrims came under fire in southern Baghdad, security sources said.

Three other pilgrims were injured, along with the Iraqi driver.

The British embassy in Baghdad could not immediately confirm that the victims were Britons.

A US tank was also hit Monday by a roadside bomb, though there were no casualties, the US military said.

Kidnappings of foreigners have been on the decline in recent months, especially since the numbers of foreign aid workers dropped sharply in the wake of a spate of abductions last year.

British-Irish aid worker Margaret Hassan was kidnapped in October 2004 on her way to work in Baghdad. The head of CARE International's Iraq operations was reported to have been executed by her captors a month later.

The body of Hassan, who had lived in Iraq for over 30 years and was married to an Iraqi, has never been found.

Italian aid workers Simona Torretta and Simona Pari were freed 21 days after their September 2004 abduction, reportedly in exchange for surgical treatment for wounded insurgents.

Dozens of foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion of March 2003, with many appearing in videos pleading for their lives before being brutally murdered.

Many such killings have been claimed by the group of Al-Qaeda in Iraq led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.

Despite the continuing violence, President Jalal Talabani said he had received calls from people claiming to be linked to the insurgency and who said they were ready to engage in political talks.