Italy foreign minister heads for Gulf in hostage crisis

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini is to fly to the Gulf region in an effort to secure the release of two Italian women aid workers kidnapped in Baghdad, the foreign ministry said yesterday.

Mr Frattini would meet civilian and religious leaders during the trip, which will start in Kuwait, the ministry said in a statement.

"Frattini will renew appeals for solidarity and respect for the life of unarmed civilians who were generously committed to helping the Iraqi people," it said.

Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, who worked on projects to help Iraqi children, were seized at gunpoint in Baghdad on September 7 along with two Iraqi colleagues.

Previously unknown Islamic militant groups have claimed responsibility for their abduction and one organisation threatened on Sunday to kill the two women, both aged 29, unless Italy pulled its troops out of Iraq.

"We will extend our deadline 24 hours from the issue of this statement. After that, if we don't see Italian soldiers withdrawing from Iraq, we will implement execution," said the statement signed by the Islamic Jihad Organisation.

The Italian government, a staunch supporter of the US-led war on Iraq, sent some 2,700 troops to southern Iraq last year despite widespread opposition at home.

The plight of the two Simonas has galvanised Italy, with government and opposition parties setting aside differences over the troop deployment to demand the unconditional release of the Italian women and their Iraqi colleagues.

Deputy Prime Minister Gianfranco Fini cast doubt on the validity of Sunday's threats from the Islamic Jihad Organisation and repeated Italy would not bow to demands to withdraw its troops.

"The level of credibility is still very low," he told reporters, referring to the statement posted on the internet. "It is clear that we cannot give in to blackmail," he added.

The foreign ministry did not say where Mr Frattini would go from Kuwait. Last week, a ministry undersecretary visited five Middle Eastern countries to whip up support for the release of the two Italian women.

At least seven Italians have been kidnapped in recent months in Iraq and two of them subsequently killed, including journalist Enzo Baldoni, who died last month.

But the seizure of Pari and Torretta has stirred particularly strong emotions - partly because they are women, but also because they worked for a charity that opposed the Iraqi invasion and were helping the child victims of conflict.

Protest marches have been held in almost every major Italian town and city, with local Muslim communities joining the appeals for their release.