Brazil engineer seized in Iraq is dead

[Barrett808]

Source: Reuters

BRASILIA, June 14 (Reuters) - A Brazilian engineer who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2005 while working on a reconstruction project has been confirmed dead, the government said on Thursday.

The remains of Joao Jose Vasconcellos were identified and the body has been sent home, a Foreign Ministry statement said.

The ministry said the body had been identified through forensic tests but gave no further details.

"God wanted this way. It's very painful," Karla Vasconcellos, Joao Jose's sister, told the Globo TV network. "It's very sad but we will endure."

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