Iraq Kidnappers Kill Italian Hostage -Jazeera TV

[Flagg]

Iraq Kidnappers Kill Italian Hostage -Jazeera TV




DUBAI (Reuters) - Arabic television Al Jazeera said on Wednesday the kidnappers of four Italians in Iraq (news - web sites) had killed one hostage and were threatening to kill the rest.




The Qatar-based channel gave no more details.




http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20040414/ts_nm/iraq_italy_jazeera_dc_1

[Coventina]

1. Horrible....no other words

:cry:

[Barrett808]

2. More here

Italian hostage in Iraq killed by captors: Al-Jazeera

DOHA (AFP) - One of the four Italian hostages being held in Iraq has been killed, the Arab satellite channel Al-Jazeera reported, quoting a statement sent to it by the kidnappers.

The channel also said it had received a "video film and photos showing the murder of the hostage" but said it could not broadcast the material for fear of upsetting its viewers.

In their statement, the captors said they had "killed the hostage after comments by (Italian Prime Minister Silvio) Berlusconi ... that the withdrawal of Italian troops from Iraq was not negotiable."

The kidnappers threatened to kill the other three hostages "one by one if their demands were not taken into account," Al-Jazeera said.

(more)

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20040414/wl_mideast_afp/iraq_hostages_italy&cid=1514&ncid=1480

[Richardo]

7. F*cking savages

There is NO provocation that justifies the slaughter of hostages. Anyone who broadcasts the tape, OR WATCHES IT, is no better in my opinion.

[Media_Lies_Daily]

19. Do you think our hands are clean of this kind of tactic? Maybe you...

...need to read some information on Operation Phoenix during the Vietnam War. Or perhaps the skill of making one disappear in Central and South America as taught by the U. S. military and the CIA.

I will agree that there is no place for this kind of barbarous activity anywhere, anytime, but don't pretend that we don't do this, too.

[Richardo]

51. I don't pretend we don't do it - I said there's no justification for it...

I did not exempt ANYBODY.

And are there videotapes of the executions of any victims of US ops being sent to the media? I didn't think so.

[progressivebydesign]

3. Very sad.

Much as I totally disagree with what is happening in Iraq, and the countries who are there to fight or make a profit, the kidnappings are crude and barbaric. What have we done?

[0007]

16. What have we done?

`Ya mean what have we become to turn a blind eye in the name of Democracy.

[drfemoe]

4. BBC Coverage

... "Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said so far there had been no confirmation of the killing.

If confirmed, it would be the first killing of a hostage abducted in Iraq. Around 40 foreigners are currently being held by militants.

Mr Frattini said earlier he would consider "every means" to secure the release of Italian and other foreign hostages except negotiation with the kidnappers.

"Obviously, we hope this news turns out to be false," he said on Italian TV after hearing the news. " ... more ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3627377.stm

What OTHER means are there to securing release other than "negotiation with the kidnappers"? :shrug:

[maddezmom]

5. CNNI reporting now

not confirmed, waiting to see tape.

[Snellius]

6. They have a tape of the killing

Al-Jazeera: Italian Hostage Killed on Tape

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - An Arab network broadcast a report Wednesday that it has a video showing the killing of one of four Italian hostages being held by militants in Iraq.

Al-Jazeera told The Associated Press that the footage shows the four sitting on the ground, holding up their passports and surrounded by armed men. The satellite station said the tape showed the death of one of the hostages, but did not broadcast it to ``protect the audience's feelings.''

An Al-Jazeera employee at the newsdesk in Doha, Qatar, did not know how the station got the tape.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3977983,00.html

[thebeaglehaslanded]

8. That is as barbaric as firing weapons indiscriminately at peaceful

women and children. War brings out the worst on both sides.

[NNN0LHI]

9. Its as barbaric as dropping bombs on children as they sleep. Yes it is n/t

[hang a left]

10. It is horrible.

Everyone needs to go home

[Piperay]

11. Awful...

there are so many evil people in the World and I mean everywhere. :-(

[osaMABUSh]

12. If true, there may a pattern of freeing those who opposed the

invasion while killing those who supported it. Don't mean to sound cold but I'm sure our diplomats and military are doing the same analysis. Apparently, the abduction and freeing of other nationals is to get their attention; e.g., Russians are now leaving Iraq.

In no way do I condone kidnapping by Iraq's but desperate people who have been invaded do desperate things.

Like suicide bombings this may be part of their arsenal like our cluster bombs and overwhelming military mechanization.

[drfemoe]

14. Brought to you by

the war profiteers' inhumane indifference to dead soldiers.

Some people refuse to sit down and shut up. They will get attention.

If we honored and grieved our fallen soldiers, perhaps they wouldn't resort to these tactics. (?)

[saigon68]

31. Gold Star Mother

Emma Roberts is comforted by her daughter, Angela Roberts-Burton, second from right, after receiving the U.S. flag that draped the coffin of her son, Marine Lance Cpl. Anthony P. Roberts, during a cermony inside the pavilion at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery, Wednesday, April 14, 2004, in Bear, Del. The 18-year-old Delaware native was killed April 6 in combat in Iraq (news - web sites). (AP Photo/Dee Marvin)

[NNN0LHI]

15. It is not cold to discuss a theory here. Don't worry

And I agree with your theory. I have been thinking the same thing.

Don

[TeeYiYi]

13. Yahoo link . . .

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=540&ncid=716&e=4&u=/ap/20040414/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_italian_hostage

TYY

[Karenina]

17. Didn't the Italian fearless leader Baloney,

as the *dimwit referred to him, recently make an appearance there spewing shit?

[deminflorida]

18. I used to live in Italy, almost Ten Years....

I'd hate to be an Arab living there right now... and there are many...
most are illegal North African immigrants.

The Italians are very emotional...they will beat them to fucking death in the streets.

The misery continues to spread...

[daleo]

20. A little morbid, but this will be an interesting test of propaganda

This, if true, will have inestimable propaganda value to the Bush regime (Iraqis are savage, so it's OK to kill them indiscriminately). It seems likely we will hear about it with great frequency in the next few days. It will be very telling to see who runs the video if it exists - personally I expect CNN to go ahead and run it.

[maddezmom]

21. looks to be true

ROME - An Italian hostage was executed by his Iraqi abductors, Foreign Minister Franco Frattini confirmed Wednesday night, saying an Italian official had seen a videotape of the killing.

Earlier, the Arabic TV network Al-Jazeera reported the killing, saying it had received a video recording of the murder. The Italian ambassador to Qatar, where the network is based, watched the video and confirmed that the man killed was Fabrizio Quattrocchi, one of the kidnapped Italians, Frattini said.
~snip~
more: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=3&u=/ap/20040414/ap_on_re_mi_ea/italy_iraq_3

[Muddleoftheroad]

26. So they shouldn't run it?

Isn't it news?

[daleo]

27. Well, you could argue it both ways, I suppose

I am inclined to think they shouldn't run it - it seems to me there has been an informal agreement not to run these sorts of things. I don't know the exact reasoning behind the ban. It could be stated as simply as good taste, or more abstractly as a desire to ensure the public does not become desensitized to actual brutality, as opposed to fictional portrayals. I think there is something to be said for the latter point.

On the other hand, it is argued that seeing the real face of war could have a sobering effect on the public, and make people less likely to agree to this extreme measure. This may be valid, but I don't know if I would want to run the experiment and find out that the public doesn't mind, or actually likes this level of filmed violence.

I would say that the current case differs from the "news footage" case, where death has been captured on film or tape by an independent journalist.

In this case, if the informal ban is broken, I think it would be because of the perceived positive propaganda value of the image, from the point of view of the Bush administration and their many friends in significant parts of the news media. But that is just a hunch or educated guess.

[JohnLocke]

22. Bastards.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[daleo]

24. I wouldn't be surprised if this one gets murkier as time goes on

I distinctly remembering that the TV announcer mentioned that there was a claim that these four Italian Security Guards were intelligence agents. That was Tuesday morning on CNN or CBC newsworld - it was just a passing reference. Since then:

This is from the Minneapolis Star-Tribune page:

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/4719229.html


"The Italian foreign ministry said its civilians worked for the U.S.-based DTS Security company and were first reported missing Monday. The Italian news agency AGI and other reports said the four were taken hostage in Fallujah, 35 miles west of Baghdad.
At DTS Security in northern Virginia, operations director Jim Villegas told The Associated Press, ``We have no personnel in Iraq.''"

[NNN0LHI]

25. And then again the Italian people might give Berlusconi the Mussolini...

...treatment for getting them into this mess to begin with?

Image: The corpses of Mussolini, his mistress Claretta Petacci, and his henchmen are hanged in Piazzale Loreto in Milan on public display, April 29, 1945. They had been executed the day before some 50 miles to the north in Mezzegra and were now offered to the people who spat on the corpses and kicked them. They were then hanged by the feet. In medieval Italy it was the custom to hang crooks or embezzlers, by one foot. The fact that Mussolini was hung by two feet suggests the deep level of rage and betrayal felt by the people towards their once beloved "Duce". (credit: National Archives, USA)

[opihimoimoi]

28. And what would we do if we were in their shoes?

Occupied, killed by the hundreds/thousands, dominant religion threatened, cities/culture destroyed, etc etc.

I maintain we Americans would do no less.

Shit begat shit.

[Muddleoftheroad]

32. Most of us wouldn't resort to murder of hostages

[lostnfound]

33. Most of 'them' probably wouldn't either but some in the 60s here

did similar things..I'm thinking of treatment of blacks & civil rights activists in the South.

Humans show the same basic patterns of behavior everywhere.

Which 'us' are you talking about?

[Muddleoftheroad]

34. Us: Americans, humans, take your pick

And no, most of us would not stoop so low as to murder hostages.

[lostnfound]

35. Most of THEM --"Non-Americans, Iraqis, take your pick"--wouldn't either

Most of THEM are no different than most of US in that respect. Maybe it would be good to rethink what US and THEM means.

[Muddleoftheroad]

38. Obviously, somebody doesn't fit this category

Since they murdered the hostage.

They would be "them."

[buldra]

40. it's not

It'snot US and THEM.
This is where bombing and murder hostage begins.
IT IS EVERYONE.
please....

[Muddleoftheroad]

42. Wanna bet

Somebody killed the innocent hostage. That person and those who helped him/her is THEM.

[buldra]

45. THEM

I'm italian.
It's ok.
But THEM have been invaded.
Them had been told that they wuold have been free.
That didn't happaned.
The 800 iraqi peaple killed last week were all civilians and they were killed by US troops, and they were most women and children and elderly....is this that mekes THEM and US EVERYONE.
But this you will not find on any television
respect

[Muddleoftheroad]

46. Them

It doesn't matter if you are from the South Pole. Deliberately killing innocent hostages makes those folks the enemy of, well, pretty much everybody.

[buldra]

47. violence

where are U from is not the metter....violence brings violence.
that's all

[AskAlice]

39. No decent human would kill innocent hostages

Only a barbaric mental midget with zero respect for life would kill an innocent hostage on purpose. There are not enough words to describe the trash that would perform such an act.

[buldra]

37. Here form Italy

....we will get him down by democracy.
Be sure.

[Pert_UK]

29. Differing opinions on how he was killed...

The BBC website says, "Al-Jazeera apologised for not broadcasting the killing, saying it was "too gruesome", but an official for the TV told Italian television that Quattrocchi had been shot in the back of the neck with a pistol. "

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/3627377.stm

However, Al-Jazeera is renowned for showing gruesome footage of the dead and dying, and several UK TV journalists have been saying that the death would have to have been particularly horrible for Al-Jazeera not to make the tape public.

My thoughts are with the remaining hostages and the family of the man killed - I hope for his sake that it was at least painless, but that's a small, small mercy.

[Muddleoftheroad]

30. Al-Jazeera is the preferred network of terrorists

Perhaps they thought it would cast their friends in a bad light.

[buldra]

41. I don't

I don't think so...there's a big need of alternative media and Aljazeera is

[Muddleoftheroad]

44. Alternative alright

Alternative to truth.

Sorta like Faux News of the Mideast.

[buldra]

49. truth

truth is keeping yourself informed and then make you neurones work.

[Blue_Tires]

52. i agree

i find it strange that only now A-J finds their sense of 'decency'..They just don't want to air any footage that could turn public opinion against the iraqis or anything which puts muslims in a possible bad light...

I promise you if overzealous U.S. troops shot a prisoner, and if A-J had footage of it, they'd loop it on a 24-hour scale

[buldra]

36. I'm Italian, My opinion is

Here in Italy we have a kind of "regime", and the only foreign politc issues is to stay with Bush.
I fugure that as a huge mistake, but I couldn' get anything better than that from Berlusconi.....whose politics and decision are all a huge mistake.
I feel a terrible sadness in my heart for the death of an Italian and I think is Berlusconi's blame.
I totally disagree with this war.
The only thing to do is to envole international institutions as UN, and to change the way of our "exporting" democracy.....
I hope next election will not win Bush, really.

[leftchick]

43. "I hope next election will not win Bush, really."

me too, I desperately hope that!

Welcome to DU buldra! :)

[buldra]

50. thankz

thankz.
hope I can give some contribution to all discussions from a "Meditterranean" point of view!

[buldra]

48. murder tape

does anybody kows where I can find the tape of the execution?

[Blue_Roses]

53. this is horrible

and so sad