TURKISH HOSTAGES 'KILLED BY MILITANTS'

[Talon]

TURKISH HOSTAGES 'KILLED BY MILITANTS'

An Iraqi militant group calling itself Tawhid and Jihad has killed three Turks it was holding hostage in Iraq, Al Jazeera television has reported.

The Arabic television channel gave no further details and it was not immediately clear if the group was the same as Jama'at al-Tawhid and Jihad, which is linked to al Qaeda.

An official in Ankara said the report "seems credible".

Iraqi police earlier said they had found the bodies of two Turkish truck drivers at the side of a road north of Baghdad.

The body of another man, possibly also Turkish, was found next to them without any identification cards.

The two drivers, aged 53 and 42, were found near a village in an area that is a centre for Sunni Muslim insurgents fighting US forces.

Militant groups in Iraq have kidnapped dozens of foreign hostages to pressure allies of the US and expatriate workers and their employers to quit Iraq.

Many have been released but about 25 have been killed.

http://www.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30200-1149862,00.html