ROME, Oct 21: A judge raised eyebrows across Italy on Thursday by describing four Italian civilians held hostage for nearly two months in Iraq as "mercenaries" at the service of the United States.

Bari judge Giuseppe De Benedictis was asked to corroborate evidence supplied by prosecutors investigating a friend of one of the hostages on charges of "unauthorized recruitment and arming at the service of a foreign state".

Giampiero Spinelli is suspected of setting up a company that recruited and trained mercenaries to send to Iraq.

The recruits allegedly include Umberto Cupertino, Maurizio Agliana, Salvatore Stefio and Fabrizio Quattrocchi, who were kidnapped in Iraq on April 12.

Quattrocchi was to be killed by his captors while the three others were eventually released by a United States military raid, with the survivors receiving a hero's welcome on their return to Italy.

According to judge De Benedictis, however, the four were "flankers of the coalition forces". This, the judge said, "explains, if not justifies, the attitude displayed by their kidnappers towards them".

Agliana and Stefio have dismissed the accusation, saying they were merely working in Iraq on a private contract as security guards. -dpa