Berlusconi
7th September 2004, 11:32 AM
Two Italian women working for a humanitarian group in Iraq have been kidnapped in Baghdad.
Witnesses said armed men stormed the offices of A Bridge for Baghdad, abducting Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29, and two Iraqis.
More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cut short a visit to Milan in order to monitor the situation.
One of the Iraqis captured was a male engineer who worked for the humanitarian group, although unconfirmed reports indicated that he may have escaped shortly after being seized.
The other Iraqi was believed to work for Intersos, another Italian organisation.
Contacts
A spokesperson for A Bridge for Baghdad, based in Rome, confirmed that the women worked on water and school projects in the Iraqi capital.
The kidnappings happened in the Wehda district of Baghdad, on a side just off a busy square and close to a hospital.
Witnesses said that up to 20 heavily-armed kidnappers drove up in three cars to the offices of the two organisations and seized the four hostages.
Jean-Dominique Bunel, of the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq, told the Associated Press news agency that religious authorities had been contacted.
"We are working for their release," he said.
The two women are not the first Italians to be abducted in Iraq.
Insurgents kidnapped and killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni last month as he travelled to the southern city of Najaf.
In April, kidnappers killed Italian security guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi.
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"Let's stop to call this criminals as guerrilla, let's call them for what they are, terrorists". This is the first reaction by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini.
Witnesses said armed men stormed the offices of A Bridge for Baghdad, abducting Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29, and two Iraqis.
More than 100 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion in March 2003.
Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cut short a visit to Milan in order to monitor the situation.
One of the Iraqis captured was a male engineer who worked for the humanitarian group, although unconfirmed reports indicated that he may have escaped shortly after being seized.
The other Iraqi was believed to work for Intersos, another Italian organisation.
Contacts
A spokesperson for A Bridge for Baghdad, based in Rome, confirmed that the women worked on water and school projects in the Iraqi capital.
The kidnappings happened in the Wehda district of Baghdad, on a side just off a busy square and close to a hospital.
Witnesses said that up to 20 heavily-armed kidnappers drove up in three cars to the offices of the two organisations and seized the four hostages.
Jean-Dominique Bunel, of the NGO Co-ordination Committee in Iraq, told the Associated Press news agency that religious authorities had been contacted.
"We are working for their release," he said.
The two women are not the first Italians to be abducted in Iraq.
Insurgents kidnapped and killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni last month as he travelled to the southern city of Najaf.
In April, kidnappers killed Italian security guard Fabrizio Quattrocchi.
-------------------------
"Let's stop to call this criminals as guerrilla, let's call them for what they are, terrorists". This is the first reaction by the Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini.