CAIRO,
April 18 (IslamOnline.net) - The families of three Italian security
guards held hostage in Iraq have appealed to Iraqi resistance fighters
not to kill them.
"Spare
the lives of our boys, who have nothing to do with politics. We beg
you, let them return home as soon as possible," the families said
in a statement, a copy of which was faxed to IslamOnline.net on
Sunday, April 18.
The
plea followed the slaying of one Italian hostage, 36-year-old Fabrizio
Quattrocchi, last week, the first known killing of several foreigners
taken hostage by Iraqi resistance fighters.
The
Iraqi group vowed to kill the other three if Italy did not withdraw
its troops deployed in the occupied oil-rich Arab country.
"We
are simple people like you and we appeal to your religious consciences
as believers in God, which you refer to by a different name than ours
but that has many shared roots," read the statement circulated by
private news agency AdnKronos International.
'Without
Hope'
"They
are without hope. The only thing they want is to communicate [my news
agency] for humanitarian reason," AdnKronos assistant chief
executive, Luca Beccali, told IOL over the phone.
"This
is not enough", he retorted, when asked about his opinion on the
families' action.
On
possible legal action by the families against the Italian government
of Silvio Berlusconi to bring the troops home, Beccali stressed
"it is not easy".
He
underlined that many Italians have opposed the U.S.-led occupation and
dispatching troops to the chaos-mired country, admitting "it is
all about politics."
But
Beccali said it is not worth taking the risk and going to occupied
Iraq for the sake of money.
Quattrocchi
was taken captive on Monday, April 12, along with three other Italians
who were in Iraq working as private security guards for a company that
the Italian Foreign Ministry identified as DTS LLC Security, based in
Nevada.
The
company is reportedly providing security to an American communications
companies operating in Iraq.
As
Italians reacted with horror to the slaying of Quattrocchi, Berlusconi
vowed to keep his troops in Iraq.
The
3,000-strong Italian contingent includes ground troops, pilots along
with three naval ships and 40 Red Cross volunteers.
