BAGHDAD, July 29: Iraq's hostage crisis escalated on Thursday amid chilling death threats and the killing of two Pakistanis. The Pakistanis' deaths are the first confirmed killings of foreign hostages since the headless body of a Bulgarian hostage was hauled out of the Tigris river last week.

Just hours later, videotapes aired by Arab television stations claimed that four Jordanians and a Somali were being held by two separate groups in Iraq. A group calling itself "Death Squad of Mujahedeen of Iraq" said it was holding four Jordanians in a bid to force Amman away from supporting the US-led coalition, Dubai Television reported.

A brother of one of the hostages said he had spoken to one of the kidnappers by telephone after recognising his brother as one of the four captives. Footage broadcast by Al-Jazeera showed a snatched Somali, Ali Ahmad Mussa, threatened with beheading by the Tawhid wa al-Jihad group unless his Kuwaiti employer quits the country within 48 hours.

Yet another video aired by private Indian network NDTV showed a gun held over one of three Indian truckers being held with three Kenyans and an Egyptian colleague at a secret location in Iraq.

In a statement obtained by AFP, their abductors threatened to behead one of the Indians unless his Kuwaiti employer quits the country. "We will slit the throat of one of the hostages on Friday at 7:00pm (1500 GMT) if our demands are not met," it said.

The mediator appointed by the kidnappers to broker the men's release, Hisham al-Duliami told AFP that the Indian embassy had started talks with him in a bid to save their nationals. -AFP