Relatives appeal for release of Sudanese hostage in Iraq

KHARTOUM, March 14 (AFP) — Relatives of a Sudanese national kidnapped in Iraq last week appealed Monday to his captors to release him, media said.

A video image aired by Arabic satellite channel Al Arabiya October 30, 2004 shows two masked men pointing rifles at a Sudanese translator, named as Noureddin Zakaria, taken hostage in the Iraqi rebel town of Ramadi by an Iraqi resistance group. (Al Arabiya via Reuters).

Mohammad Harun Hammad’s family posted a message destined for the Islamic Army in Iraq in the Sudanese newspaper Al Ayam, while also calling on the foreign ministry for help.

“I appeal to the captors to set free my brother Mohammad, the breadwinner of his family, who has no political leanings,” one of his brothers was quoted as saying.

Sudan’s foreign ministry said it was working to secure Hammad’s release.

“We were aware of Hammad’s ordeal ahead of this press report and we are very much concerned about our national and are doing our best to free him,” State Foreign Minister Naguib al-Khair told AFP.

The Islamic Army in Iraq claimed the abduction of Hammad and another Sudanese national, Maher Attaya, in a video and statement posted on the internet on March 9.

It accused the pair of working for the US forces at an army base north of the Iraqi capital.

The hardline group has kidnapped several foreigners and in some cases killed its hostages, including Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni in August 2004.

It also claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of French journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, who were released in December after four months held hostage.