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BAGHDAD, April 14: Around 40 foreigners from at least 12 countries were missing or known to be abducted in Iraq as of Wednesday. The nationalities of most of the 40 hostages are unknown. Here is a list of the known hostages and people reported missing.
Seven US contractors and two soldiers have been missing since an attack on a fuel convoy near Baghdad international airport on Friday that left one US soldier dead and 12 wounded.
US officials said four bodies had been found in shallow graves near the attack site, but they have not been identified. One contractor, Thomas Hamill, a 43-year-old truck driver and former dairy farmer, has been shown in captivity on a regional television station. - Four Italians working for a private company have been missing since Monday.
THREE JAPANESE: The trio are volunteer workers Noriaki Imai, 18, Nahoko Takato, 34, and photojournalist Soichiro Koriyama, 32. The armed group holding them, the "Mujahedeen Brigades", threatened to start killing them from Monday unless Japanese troops were withdrawn from Iraq.
Japanese diplomats have said there has been no progress in gaining their release. - Three Czechs: Journalists Michal Kubal, Petr Klima and Vit Pohanka are believed to have been kidnapped near Baghdad on Sunday as they attempted to leave the country for Jordan. The owner of an Iraqi taxi company said they were snatched by armed men.
ONE FRENCH: Journalist Alexandre Jordanov, 40, from the CAPA television news agency was kidnapped on Sunday south of Baghdad, with his cameraman Ivan Ceriex, who was later released, the station's boss said on Tuesday. -AFP
