Hostage claims remain unconfirmed
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There is still no confirmation of reports that two Australians working as security guards in Iraq are being held hostage by Islamic extremists.
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Prime Minister John Howard has stood firm against withdrawing troops from Iraq after unconfirmed reports that two Australians have been taken hostage and would be killed within 24 hours unless Canberra pulls out.
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Teachers who survived the Beslan school siege say nearly 400 former hostages are still unaccounted for.
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The kidnappers of three U.N. workers in  Afghanistan said the government agreed terms for their release  on Wednesday, but there was no confirmation and a top U.S.  official said a deal would encourage hostage taking.
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A SWAT team that believed a gunman was holding hostages at a restaurant was able to free 14 people, but they did not find the armed man and were trying to determine whether a suspect got away or a hoax had been perpetrated, police said. No one was injured.
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French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said Sunday he could not confirm the authenticity of a statement attributed to the Islamic Army in Iraq saying it was releasing two French hostages, but Prime ...
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MOSCOW  - Two days after the bloody end of a hostage crisis that left more than 350 people dead, the identity of the attackers who seized a school in the ethnic patchwork of Russia's North Caucasus region remained uncertain Sunday.
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Britain appealed on Thursday to kidnappers holding a hostage in Iraq to make contact -- but still ruled out negotiations or ransom payment.
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Three UN workers kidnapped in Kabul are probably not being held by Islamic militants, the Afghan authorities say.
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Hopes that Islamic militants will soon free two French hostages in Iraq are rising, despite confusion over which group is now holding them.
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The Iraqi kidnapping business continued unabated today with the abduction of two Egyptians in Baghdad. There was still no word of the fate of Briton Ken Bigley - or two Italian women whom websites claim have been beheaded.
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An Iranian diplomat taken hostage in  Iraq last month has been released by his captors but the fate  of at least 11 other foreigners, including a Briton threatened  with beheading, remained unclear on Tuesday.
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There is no evidence to support claims by three Americans that they were severely beaten in jail since their arrest on charges they kidnapped Afghans as part of a freelance
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Confusion surrounded the fate of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq on Thursday after a new purported statement from the kidnappers denied they had demanded a $5 million ransom or set a 48-hour deadline.
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BAGHDAD, Sept. 23. - Authorities insisted they wonât give in to militantsâ demands to free women Iraqi prisoners despite the broadcast of a videotape that showed a tearful British hostage begging Britain to save his life.
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PARIS Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin of France said Sunday that he was unable to confirm the authenticity of a statement attributed to a militant group called the Islamic Army in Iraq that said it was releasing two French hostages, on condition
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The government has appealed to kidnappers holding hostage Kenneth Bigley in Iraq to make contact -- but still ruled out negotiations or ransom payment.