Worst violence continues in Iraq; US allies pledge to stay

By: Hamoud Kufi

BAGHDAD, Iraq: Violence that has claimed hundreds of lives over the past week still continued in Iraq on Thursday and US allies insisted they would stay in the country after insurgents kidnapped several foreign nationals.

A previously unknown group paraded three abducted Japanese nationals on television, while eight South Koreans were also seized. One managed to escape, while the other seven were later freed unharmed.

But both countries, key US allies in Iraq, vowed to stay the course.

A group calling itself the “Mujahedeen Brigades” had threatened to kill the three Japanese nationals, who included one woman, unless Tokyo withdrew its troops from Iraq, in a videotape aired by the Al-Jazeera satellite channel.

An Israeli Arab and another Arab resident of east Jerusalem working for international aid agencies were also kidnapped in Iraq by al-Ansar ad-Din, the Israeli media reported Thursday.

The string of abductions came at a time Washington needs the support of its allies more than ever.

Wednesday, Ayatullah Ali As-Sistani issued a religious verdict, or Fatwa, asking for peaceful solution of the chaos.

In Washington, questions about the legitimacy of the war continued to haunt the White House, with National security adviser Condoleezza Rice forced to deny the administration had planned an invasion in the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 terror attacks.

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