Australia won’t negotiate if hostages taken in Iraq

CANBERRA, Australia – Prime Minister John Howard said on Tuesday he would not withdraw troops from Iraq as demanded by militants who claim to have taken two Australians hostage and threatened to execute them within 24 hours.

Australian officials were trying to determine the credibility of the claim by a group calling itself the Horror Brigades of the Islamic Secret Army that it had abducted two Australian security guards along with two Asians.

They also were trying to find out how many Australians are in Iraq and where they are.

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said today that 229 Australians had been identified as being in Iraq and 202 had been accounted for.

The 24-hour deadline passed without immediate word from the militants.

“It could be several days before we find out whether Australians have been taken hostage or whether this is a hoax,” Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters in Sydney.

Downer said the government would not negotiate for the Australians’ lives, even if the abductors proved to be a criminal gang demanding ransom. He said a logistics and support team was sent to Iraq to help with the situation.

The militant group in Iraq claimed it abducted the two Australians and two Asians on a road between Baghdad and Mosul.

It said the hostages, who were not named, would be executed if the government did not withdraw from Iraq within 24 hours, authorities said. No other details were immediately available.

“We all hope and pray this information is wrong,” Howard said. But he added that if the hostage-taking was confirmed, the government would not bow to the kidnappers’ demands. “We do not negotiate with terrorists,” he said.

Howard is running on a pro-American, anti-terror platform in elections scheduled for Oct. 9.

He has defied widespread public anger to send 2,000 troops to the invasion of Iraq last year and still has 880 military personnel in and around the country.