Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera has aired a video said to be from al-Qaida-linked militants showing a South Korean hostage begging for his life and pleading with his government to withdraw troops from Iraq.

The leader of militants who say they beheaded an American in Iraq has allegedly written to Osama bin Laden saying his fighters are being squeezed by US-led coalition troops.

A group linked to al-Qaida today claimed responsibility for a Baghdad suicide attack that targeted an Iraqi deputy minister, the second fatal bombing it has claimed in a week.