Italy still hopeful for release of Iraq hostages as ultimatum expires
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Italy's foreign minister said he was still hopeful that two Italian women held hostage in Iraq would be released, as a purported ultimatum by the kidnappers was about to expire.
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Italy says it has no intention of withdrawing its 3,000 troops from Iraq in the face of demands from kidnappers who have seized an Italian journalist.
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The Italian government insisted it would maintain its 3,000 troops in Iraq despite an ultimatum from an Islamic group holding an Italian journalist and demanding that Rome withdraw its forces within 48 hours.
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An Italian journalist taken hostage in  Baghdad this month made an emotional appeal for her life and  called on foreign forces to withdraw from the country in a tape  released by insurgents on Wednesday.
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Rome - A defiant Italy said on Friday it would not give in to &quot;terrorist blackmail&quot; after the execution of a kidnapped journalist in Iraq by insurgents who demanded that Rome withdraw its troops from the country.
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Relatives of two French reporters held  hostage in Iraq waited anxiously on Wednesday for news of their  fate after a deadline for Paris to scrap a ban on Muslim  headscarves in schools apparently passed without incident.
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DOHA, Qatar  - Italy's Foreign Minister Franco  Frattini, on a Gulf tour to try to save two Italian women  hostages in Iraq, Tuesday called for their release but said  Rome would never listen to any kidnappers threats.
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BAGHDAD, 11 September 2004 - Militants yesterday gave Italy 48 hours to free Muslim women prisoners in Iraq in exchange for two Italian aid workers as the interim Iraqi president promised to do all he could to win the release of the duo.
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Diplomatic efforts mount as a deadline nears for two French journalists held hostage in Iraq.
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The militants who kidnapped an Italian reporter must prove he is still alive before any negotiations for his release can begin, Italy's ambassador to Afghanistan said Saturday.
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A deadline set by militants who have  threatened to kill two Americans and a Briton seized in Iraq  was due to expire Monday, and more than two dozen other  hostages were also facing death unless rebel demands were met.
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ROME -- Italian politicians pledged yesterday to put aside their differences over the Iraq war and work together to free two female aid workers abducted in Baghdad, the third time Italian citizens have been taken hostage in Iraq over the past six months.
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Concern mounts for the two Italian women taken hostage in Iraq, with no word so far from the group that seized them.
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Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini met Emirati officials as part of continued efforts to secure the release of two women hostages threatened with execution in Iraq.
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Iraq's interim President Ghazi al-Yawar vowed Friday to do all he could to obtain the release of two Italian women aid workers held hostage, as Muslim leaders in Rome recorded prayers on their behalf.
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The release of two Italian women hostages in Iraq has given the family of British hostage Ken Bigley hope that he may also be freed soon, his younger brother said.
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The militant Ansar al-Zawahiri group has given Italy 24 hours to promise to release Muslim women prisoners in Iraq in exchange for details about two kidnapped women aid workers, in a statement published on a ...