Militants threaten to behead six hostages

A MILITANT group said yesterday it had taken six more hostages - three Indians, two Kenyans and an Egyptian - and would behead them if their countries did not immediately announce the withdrawal of their citizens from Iraq.

The US death toll since the start of the war rose to 900 when a roadside bomb killed a soldier.

The seizure of the hostages came a day after a Filipino truck driver was released in exchange for Manila's withdrawal of its 51-member troop contingent, a move criticised by Washington and other allies as encouraging more abductions. Those fears seemed to be realised with the new kidnappings.

In a statement to The Associated Press, the group, calling itself "The Holders of the Black Banners," said it had abducted the six truckers and would behead one of them every 72 hours starting at 8pm yesterday if their nations did not pull out of Iraq and the company they work for did not close its branch here.

"We have warned all the countries, companies, businessmen and truck drivers that those who deal with American cowboy occupiers will be targeted by the fires of the Mujahedeen," the statement said. "Here you are once again transporting, goods, weapons and military equipment that backs the US Army." None of the countries are part of the 160,000-member coalition force in Iraq, however, Interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi appealed last week to India and Egypt to join the coalition and send troops.

More than 60 foreigners have been taken hostage in Iraq in recent months.

US allies Poland, Japan and Bulgaria rejected threats of new attacks by militants if they don't pull their troops out of Iraq.

A car bomb went off in eastern Baghdad yesterday, killing four people, a Health Ministry official said.

New clashes between US forces and insurgents in a residential area near the city of Ramadi killed five Iraqis and wounded 17 others, said Dr. Mohammed Ali of Ramadi emergency hospital. Some of the casualties occurred when a helicopter attacked a building in the area near Ramadi.

The US death toll as counted by The Associated Press reached 900 with the report by Maj. Neal O'Brien, who said the bomb killed the soldier during a patrol in a Bradley fighting vehicle in Duluiyah, 45 miles north of Baghdad.

Violent attacks have continued to rise against Iraqi officials and police, whom insurgents view as collaborators with US forces.

A member of Baghdad's provincial council, Sabeeh al-Ka'abi, was injured in an assassination attempt, and was in a stable condition, according to an official at Ibn al-Nafis Hospital, where al-Ka'abi was taken.