The escalating hostage-taking drama and bloody US reprisals have cast a dark shadow of doubt on the future democratisation process in Iraq, writes Hassan Hamid from Baghdad The United States, with its military might, possession of up-to-date technologies, and allies have so far failed to put an end to the kidnapping dilemma that has rocked for the last six months in Iraq. In their campaign to drive out US-led occupation troops from Iraq and hamper reconstruction, hostage-takers have diversified their skills to kidnap more foreigners working in Iraq. The result that was more than 140 people were taken hostages over the last six months. Some of them were killed, while others survived. The most recent victims were six Egyptian telecommunication engineers working for a mobile company in Iraq. They were abducted from their flat in central Baghdad, along with two Iraqis. Also kidnapped lately was British engineer Kenneth Bigley along with two American contractors working with the US army in Iraq. The two Americans were later slain. On 7 September, two Italian aid workers, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29, were kidnapped from their offices in central Baghdad, prompting some aid groups to recall staff from Iraq. They have since been released. Two French journalists, Christian Chessnot and Georges Malbrunot, were kidnapped last month by a militant Islamist group that demanded France abolish a law banning the wearing of headscarves in public schools. Paris refused and the law has already gone into effect. Their kidnappers have kept the world guessing about the French hostages' fate. Many of these hostages work on reconstruction projects supervised by the US troops in Iraq, or are truck drivers bringing logistics for the coalition army. Some of them are engineers rebuilding electrical plants or communications systems and others guarding building sites. The Iranian diplomat taken hostage last month has been released after his captors were convinced that he was not involved in Iraq's politics. Several militant groups have claimed through the websites that they are behind these kidnappings. The most radical among them was the Tawheed wal Jihad (unity and holy war) linked to the Al-Qaeda group in Iraq headed by Jordanian militant Abu Musab Al-Zarqawi. The others are Salafist Bridges of Abu Bakr Al-Siddiq, Islamic Rage Brigade, the Ansar Al- Sunna Army, the Islamic Army in Iraq, (Prophet) Mohammed Army and the Green Battalion. The Iraqi Interior Ministry has a different view. It blames these kidnappings on loyalists of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. "According to our information, most of these people were kidnapped by Saddam's followers in order to hamper the Iraqi government's efforts to restore stability in the country," Sabah Kadhim, the ministry's spokesman, said, adding, "some of the blame also goes to foreign terrorist groups", in clear reference to Al-Qaeda. Kadhim said the ministry does not yet have enough staff to check these crimes. "Our people are currently undertaking intensive training inside and outside Iraq to curb such crimes." US-led occupation troops and Iraqi police have so far failed to encounter these groups. Many Iraqis blame the Americans for the worsening security since the fall of Saddam Hussein a year and a half ago. The kidnappers could be trying to fuel such resentment among Iraqis. "Before the vicious American occupation, I never heard that a foreigner was kidnapped in Iraq. It is against our values to kidnap a foreign visitor but hostage-taking has been fuelled by the misbehaviour of American troops in our country," one Iraqi told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I think some of those who are taken hostages deserve punishment because they collaborate with the occupiers while those who don't, like those who work in electricity and humanitarian projects, should be freed," another said. The Association of Muslim Scholars, an influential organisation that represents the Sunni Muslims in Iraq who are mostly blamed for resisting the US-led occupation, has condemned the hostage-taking, but it said it cannot do anything to stop it. Most of the militant groups are Sunni. "We are against hostage-taking and we think it doesn't serve the Iraqi cause and it harms the image of the Iraqi resistance [against the US-led occupation]," Hareth Al-Dhari, head of the association, said. But Al-Dhari said the association couldn't issue a fatwa (religious decree) banning hostage-taking because these groups wouldn't be committed to it. However, the hostage-taking issue has made a significant impact on the operation of the US-led military coalition. In some cases kidnappers have secured important political decisions, blocked the logistics of the US military or delayed reconstruction projects. Perhaps the biggest political gain those hostage- takers have made so far came from one of the US's coalition allies. In July, a Filipino trucker, Angeol de la Cruz, was taken hostage and his kidnappers demanded Philippine troops withdraw from Iraq. Within days Manila pulled out its military contingent a month ahead of schedule, despite public criticism from the US. Several companies have decided to withdraw their operations in Iraq. Other firms have started subcontracting Iraqi firms rather than risk their own staff and equipment. So far seven Turkish firms and two Jordanian ones have decided to pull out from Iraq to secure the release of kidnapped staff. A Turkish truckers' company has suspended transporting goods to the US military in Iraq. Some of the kidnappings involve ransom payment. Iraqis are mainly the targets of such kidnapping. Gangs have been taking Iraqis hostage, especially rich doctors and businessmen or their children and many families have been forced to pay thousands of dollars to release their relatives. Senior US officials have conceded that the security situation and kidnapping has been worsening in Iraq. President George W Bush said this week the situation in Iraq is "tougher than heck right now". His Secretary of State Colin Powell has admitted that resistance in Iraq is getting worse and that the US occupation there has increased anti-American sentiment in Muslim countries. Statistics complied by Kroll Security International, a private security firm working for the US government, indicate the attacks against US troops and contractors working with the US army are greater than reported by the US military and have spread to parts of the country that have been relatively peaceful, according to a report published by The Washington Post this week. The Post quoted Powell as saying that the US occupation troops are underway for a full-scale offensive aimed at regaining control of the so-called Sunni Triangle, including Falluja and Ramadi to the west of Baghdad, Samarra to the north and Baqubah to the northeast. But is such a military drive going to end the kidnapping dilemma facing the US? The coming few days will answer this question.
