Iraq: Al-Qaida-linked group claims kidnappings

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An al-Qaida-linked organization claimed on the Internet Saturday to have kidnapped 20 members of the Iraqi security forces in a bid to avenge the alleged rape of a Sunni Iraqi woman by police. The organization, the Islamic State of Iraq, threatened to kill the 20 hostages unless the government handed over within 48 hours the officers who are alleged to have raped the woman in a police station in February.