STORM2K

Here they go again.

BAGHDAD, Iraq —
Militants loyal to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi said Saturday they have kidnapped three Turkish workers and threatened to behead them, heightening tensions as President Bush visited Turkey.

In new violence, an explosion possibly from a car bomb ripped through downtown Hillah, a largely Shiite Muslim city south of Baghdad, killing 17 people and wounding around 40, the U.S. military said. The bloodshed and the abduction — the latest claimed by al-Zarqawi's movement, which beheaded two previous hostages, an American and a South Korean — threatened to cast a shadow over a NATO summit opening in Istanbul Monday, where Bush is seeking the alliance's help in stabilizing Iraq.

The kidnappers demanded the Turks hold demonstrations protesting the visit by the "criminal" Bush and that Turkish companies stop working in Iraq, or else the hostages would be killed. Iraq's interim prime minister warned that if security does not improve, it may become necessary to delay national elections set for January — a key landmark in the path to democracy that the United States has tried to enshrine before handing power to the Iraqis on Wednesday.

The Jan. 31 deadline for elections laid out in Iraq's interim constitution is "not absolute yet ... But we hope, and all of us will work toward that objective," Iyad Allawi said in an interview. "However, security will be (the) main feature of whether we will be able to do it in January, February or March," he said.

In central Baghdad, insurgents killed a U.S. soldier in an attack on a patrol Saturday, the military said.

Gunmen launched new attacks in the city of Baqouba, northeast of the capital, sparking battles that killed six insurgents and three civilians. The city was the scene of fierce fighting in a surprise offensive launched by al-Zarqawi on Thursday.

The Arab television station Al-Jazeera aired a video issued by the kidnappers, showing the three Turks kneeling on the ground in front of two black-clothed gunmen and a black banner emblazoned "Tawhid and Jihad," the name of al-Zarqawi's organization. The men held up Turkish passports.

In a written statement, the group demanded Turkish companies stop doing business with American forces in Iraq and called for "large demonstrations" in Turkey against the visit of "Bush the criminal."

It said that if Turkey refused their demands the hostages "will receive the just punishment of being beheaded."

Al-Jazeera received the tape Saturday, an employee at the station told The Associated Press. The statement did not say when or where the three were abducted. The kidnappers said the hostages would be killed in 72 hours. The three men disappeared two days ago, said a Turkish consular official in Baghdad who asked to be identified only by his surname, Gungor. He said he had no further information.

The abductions are likely to stoke anti-war sentiment in Turkey, where Bush is already extremely unpopular. Hours ahead of his arrival in Ankara, police battled scores of protesters Saturday, eventually firing tear gas to disperse them.


Source

Al Qaida got it WRONG when they kidnapped Turks...the meanest b@$+@&^$ in the Islamic world, and the best prepared to hit back with a force that even Al-Zarqawi is incapable of matching...block, by house, by room, by man-to-man.

300 demonstrated in turkey. no big deal at all

Yep that is what I was thinking. They might have bitten off more then they can chew this time. Between this and some other things I am hearing it is going to be a busy week ahead. 1st chemical attack by terrorists in Iraq story is starting to leak out.

streetsoldier wrote:Al Qaida got it WRONG when they kidnapped Turks...the meanest b@$+@&^$ in the Islamic world, and the best prepared to hit back with a force that even Al-Zarqawi is incapable of matching...block, by house, by room, by man-to-man.

i wish you were right soldier, but turkey has no combat troops in iraq

Isn't it ironic that this happened the SAME DAY Bush arrived in the country?

I'd say not ironic at all, but planned that way for maximum impact.

Think about it, Helen; this could be the "pretext" the Turks have been waiting for to enter Iraq in force.

They would not only want to reduce al-Zarqawi and his group to a puddle of goo...they want to ensure that Kurdish autonomy doesn't spread to southeastern Turkey (which has it own Kurdish population, as restless as ever).

Tough, well-trained and disciplined, relentless and no-BS-brutal (remember the near-elimination of the Armenians?), the Turks are the LAST Islamic country al-Zarqawi wants hunting him.

streetsoldier wrote:Think about it, Helen; this could be the "pretext" the Turks have been waiting for to enter Iraq in force.

They would not only want to reduce al-Zarqawi and his group to a puddle of goo...they want to ensure that Kurdish autonomy doesn't spread to southeastern Turkey (which has it own Kurdish population, as restless as ever).

Tough, well-trained and disciplined, relentless and no-BS-brutal (remember the near-elimination of the Armenians?), the Turks are the LAST Islamic country al-Zarqawi wants hunting him.

After reading a few things, I have to agree with you Bill. You are exactly right... the Turks are the last ones they want after them. Unfortunately, three lives are going to be lost for them to wake up.

lets hope someone kills them. i was reading that, bush, in the meeting at nato once again apologized for the prison abuse. time to drop the apologies

It's all over..the three Turks are reported to have been beheaded, according to FoxNews.

Turkey is also 97% Muslim .... which means the odds are extremely good that the kidnapping victims are themselves Muslims. Just further proof that these guys have NO religious loyalty, that they will persue their political agenda at ANY cost, and that these whackos couldn't represent all Muslims or all of Muslim society.
One would think that, if the extremists continue to attack other Arab Muslims, they would provoke these societies into fighting back. We can only hope.....