Algeria 2 killed • Ali Belaroussi, Algerian
Chargé d'affaires, and Azzedin Belkadi, Algerian diplomatic attache, were kidnapped along with their driver on July 21, 2005 in Baghdad. The Algerian government, on July 27, 2005, said the diplomats had been killed.
Austria 1 killed • Bert Nussbaumer, a contractor, was kidnapped along with four Americans on November 16, 2006. They appeared in two hostage videos released in December 2006 and January 2007. Their kidnappers demanded the withdrawal of America troops from Iraq and the release of all Iraqi prisoners in exchange for the hostages' release. One of Nussbaumer's fingers was sent to U.S. authorities in February 2008. Three of the Americans and Nussbaumer were found dead in March 2008. The other American was found dead in April 2008.
Brazil 1 killed • João José Vasconcelos, an engineer, was kidnapped on January 19, 2005, in an ambush on the
Baghdad Airport road. His body was found more than two years after his kidnapping. It is believed that he died from injuries sustained in the abduction shortly after arriving at the house where his captors planned to hold him.
Canada 1 killed • Zaid Meerwali, who held dual Canadian-Iraqi citizenship, was seized August 2, 2005, and $250,000 in ransom was demanded. Officials in Canada said, that on August 15, 2005, he had been shot in the head while the family was preparing the ransom money.
6 released/rescued/escaped • Fadi Ihsan Fadel, a Syrian-Canadian employed by the International Rescue Committee, was taken hostage in
Najaf on April 8, 2004 but released on April 16, 2004. • Naji al-Kuwaiti, was taken hostage on April 28, 2004, and released on May 4, 2004. •
Scott Taylor, was a journalist abducted by
Ansar al-Islam in
Tal Afar on September 9, 2004. He was released five days later. •
James Loney and
Harmeet Singh Sooden, human rights workers with
Christian Peacemaker Teams, were kidnapped in Baghdad on November 27, 2005, along with an American and Briton. Their Iraqi driver and Iraqi translator were not taken.
1 of unknown fate • Rifat Mohammed Rifat, an Iraqi-born prison worker, was taken hostage on April 8, 2004. He is still missing.
The People's Republic of China 15 released • Seven workers - Xue Yougui, Lin Jinping, Li Guiwu, Li Guiping, Wei Weilong, Chen Xiaojin, and Lin Kongming - were abducted on April 11, 2004 near
Fallujah, but were released on April 13, 2004. • Eight unemployed construction workers were kidnapped by a group calling itself "The Islamic Resistance, al-Numan Brigades" on January 18, 2005, as they tried to leave the country. They were released four days later. The group included three teenagers.
Cyprus 1 released • Garabet Jean Jekerjian, a man with dual Lebanese-Cypriot citizenship, was abducted in August 2005. He was released on December 31, 2005 in exchange for $200,000 ransom.
Egypt 5 killed • Mohammed Mutawalli, a purported "Egypt spy", was beheaded in a video on August 10, 2004. • Nasser Juma, contractor, kidnapped on August 27, 2004, his body was found in the town of
Baiji, Iraq on 5 September 2004. • Ibrahim Mohammed Ismail, 39, driver, 16 January 2005. •
Ihab al-Sherif, Egyptian envoy to Iraq, kidnapped in Baghdad on July 3, 2005, and reported killed on July 7, 2005. • Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Hilali, translator, abducted 9 December 2005.
16 released • Victor Tawfiq Gerges, truck driver, was kidnapped with Turk Bulent Yanik on 1 June 2004. He was released on 18 June 2004. • Alsayeid Mohammed Alsayeid Algarabawi, truck driver, was kidnapped on 6 July 2004. He was released on 19 July 2004. • Mohammed Ali Sanad, truck driver, was seized with three Indians and three Kenyans on 22 July 2004. He was released on 1 September 2004. • Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, diplomat, was seized in Baghdad on 23 July 2004. He was released on 26 July 2004. • Six employees for
Iraqna, the local brand name for Egyptian telecoms giant
Orascom, were kidnapped on 24 September 2004, with the first two being released on 28 September 2004. • Four engineers, Mohammed al-Saadi, Hussein Ashour, Waleed Ismail and Sayed Shaaban working for Egyptian telecoms giant Orascom were kidnapped in Baghdad on 6 February 2005. They were freed the next day by US forces. • Nabil Tawfiq Sulieman and Matwali Mohammed Salim, engineers for the firm Unitrak, were abducted on a road west of Baghdad, a video on an Islamic website said on 19 March 2005. They were released a day later.
1 of unknown fate • Samuel Edward, an engineer working for Iraqna Mobile Company, was kidnapped on September 26, 2005, in Baghdad. His Iraqi driver was left unharmed.
France 4 released •
Christian Chesnot and
Georges Malbrunot, two reporters, were kidnapped along with their Syrian driver on August 21, 2004. The driver was rescued on November 12. The two journalists were released on December 21. France allegedly paid $15 million in ransom for their release. •
Florence Aubenas, a reporter for the daily
Libération. She disappeared January 5, 2005 but was released with her Iraqi translator, Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, on June 11. France allegedly paid $10 million in ransom for their release. • Bernard Planche, a water engineer, was kidnapped in
Mansour on December 5, 2005. He was freed on January 7, 2006, when his captors fled the house where they were holding him during a military operation.
Germany 5 released •
Susanne Osthoff, an
archaeologist, was kidnapped along with her Iraqi driver on November 25, 2005, according to the German Foreign Ministry. They were released on December 18, 2005, after Germany allegedly paid the kidnappers $5 million ransom. It is also speculated that Germany released
Mohammed Ali Hammadi in exchange for Osthoff's release. • Thomas Nitzschke and Rene Braeunlich, two engineers, were kidnapped by gunmen near
Baiji on January 24, 2006. They appeared in four videos and their kidnappers demanded that Germany end its cooperation with the Iraqi regime, close its mission in Baghdad, ensure that all German businesses cease dealings there, and the release of all Iraqi prisoners held by US forces. On May 2, 2006, the German government announced the two had been freed. Germany allegedly paid $5 million ransom for their release. • Hannelore Marianne Krause, worked for the Austrian embassy in Baghdad, was kidnapped on February 6, 2007, with her son Sinan in Baghdad. Their kidnappers demanded that Germany withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. She was shown in three videos during her captivity. Hannelore was released on July 11, 2007. Her son's fate is unknown. • Hella Mewis, an arts curator, was kidnapped by armed militants in Baghdad on July 20, 2020. She was freed by Iraq military on July 24, 2020.
1 of unknown fate • Sinan Krause, a technician at the Iraqi Foreign Ministry, was kidnapped on February 6, 2007, along with his mother Hannelore, in Baghdad. Their kidnappers demanded that Germany withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. Hannelore was released on July 10, 2007, but Sinan hasn't been seen or heard from since a video was released on September 11, 2007. The video was recorded before Hannelore was released. It showed Sinan saying goodbye to his mother. Their kidnappers issued a final 10-day deadline in the video for Germany to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan. They threatened to kill Sinan if their demand was not met. On April 24, 2008, his father appealed to the captors to release his son. The kidnappers ignored the plea and Sinan's fate is unknown.
India 49 released • July 22, 2004: Antaryami, Sukhdev Singh, and Tilak Raj – Kuwait and Gulf Link (KGL, a Kuwaiti transport company working for the US military) truck drivers were seized in
Fallujah during the Iraq War by a little known militant group calling itself the "Islamic Secret Army", other abductees included an Egyptian and three Kenyans. They were released September 1, 2004 after KGL paid about half a million US dollars in ransom; the negotiators from the Indian side included ambassador to Iraq B. B. Tyagi, ambassador to Oman
Talmiz Ahmad, ambassador to Kuwait Swashpawan Singh, diplomat Zikrur Rahman and
E. Ahamed the
Minister of State for
External Affairs. Indian journalist V. Sudarshan's
Anatomy of an Abduction: How the Indian Hostages in Iraq were Freed (2008) provides a detailed report of the kidnapping. • 46 Indian nurses were taken hostage on June 29, 2014 by the
Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) from the Tikrit Teaching Hospital in
Tikrit in central Iraq, when it fell to the jihadist group during the
First Battle of Tikrit. The nurses later stated they were treated well by ISIL militants, some of whom they had treated during the initial takeover of the Tikrit hospital. and
Tiger Zinda Hai (2017).
39 killed, 1 escaped • Forty Indian migrant workers — from
Punjab,
Himachal Pradesh,
Bihar and
West Bengal — went missing in June 2014 after
Mosul fell to the Islamic State. In 2015, one of them, Harjit Masih, managed to flee from the clutches of ISIL and said all other Indians were killed in the
mass executions in ISIL-occupied Mosul. But the
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj refused to buy his claims then. In July, 2017, she said she would not declare the missing persons dead until she had a concrete evidence.
Indonesia 4 released • Istiqomah binti Misnad and Casingkem binti Aspin, two female workers of an electricity firm were kidnapped along with six Iraqis and two Lebanese in late September 2004. They appeared in a video broadcast on
Al Jazeera on September 30, 2004. The Islamic Army demanded that Indonesia free
Abu Bakar Bashir in exchange for the release of the two women. Bashir refused to be released for the two Indonesian women and Indonesia also said it would not free him. The Islamic Army also demanded that the Lebanese government withdraw all nationals working in Iraq for the release of the two Lebanese men. The women were released on October 4, 2004. The six Iraqis were freed later that month and the two Lebanese were freed for ransom in November, 2004. •
Meutya Hafid, a reporter, and Budiyanto, a cameraman, were kidnapped along with their Jordanian driver on February 15, 2005. They were freed on February 21, 2005.
Iran 7 released • Fereidoun Jahani, an Iranian diplomat, was kidnapped near
Karbala on August 4, 2004. He was released on September 27, 2004. • Six Iranian pilgrims and their Iraqi guide were kidnapped on November 28, 2005. Their Iraqi driver was wounded but was not abducted. The Iraqi guide and two of the Iranian pilgrims (both women) were released a day later. The four male hostages were released on February 10, 2006.
Ireland 1 killed •
Margaret Hassan, the director of
CARE International—who held British, Iraqi and Irish citizenship—was kidnapped in Baghdad on October 19, 2004. Her Iraqi driver and Iraqi unarmed security guard were not taken. She was killed in a video released on November 16, 2004.
1 released •
Rory Carroll, a journalist for the British newspaper
The Guardian, was abducted on October 19, 2005, in Baghdad and released the next day.
Israel 2 released • Nabil Razouk, an
Israeli Arab from
East Jerusalem working for the US company Research Triangle International, was kidnapped on April 8, 2004. He was freed on April 22, 2004, after pleas from his family and Palestinians. •
Elizabeth Tsurkov, a researcher, was kidnapped on March 21, 2023. On November 13, 2023, a 4-minute video of Tsurkov was released on
Telegram and subsequently aired by Al Rabiaa TV. In the video, which could not be authenticated, Tsurkov says she had been detained for seven months, although she does not identify her captors or location, and she also mentions the
Gaza war.
Jordan 2 released • Ibrahim al-Maharmeh, a businessman, was kidnapped in Baghdad on March 5, 2005. He was released on March 8, 2005, after a ransom was paid. • Mahmoud Suleiman Saidat, a driver for the Jordanian embassy in Baghdad, was kidnapped on December 20, 2006. He was later shown on a videotape calling for the release of failed suicide bomber
Sajida Mubarak Atrous al-Rishawi. He was released on February 21, 2007.
6 of unknown fate • Six Jordanians were kidnapped in May 2005. They appeared in a video that aired on Al-Jazeera on May 6, 2005. They haven't been seen or heard from since.
Kenya 3 released • Faiz Khamis Salim, Jalal Mohamed Awadh and Ibrahim Khamis Idd were kidnapped on July 22, 2004, with three Indians and an Egyptian. They were freed September 1, 2004.
Lebanon 3 released • Mohammed Hamad, was kidnapped when he was seven years old on October 22, 2004, after being lured into a car by his captors while he was walking home from school. His captors told him his father was hurt in a car accident. They also told his father that they would behead his son unless they were paid $150,000. They eventually lowered their demand to $70,000 and then lowered it again to $1,725. The $1,725 ransom was paid and Mohammed was released on October 29, 2004. • Marwan Ibrahim al-Qassar and Mohammed Jawdat Hussein were kidnapped by the Islamic Army in Iraq in late on in September 2004 along with six Iraqis and two Indonesian women. They appeared in a video broadcast on Al-Jazeera on September 30, 2004. The Islamic Army demanded that Indonesia free
Abu Bakar Bashir in exchange for the release of the two women. Bashir refused to be released for the two Indonesian women and Indonesia also said it would not free him. The Islamic Army also demanded that the Lebanese government withdraw all nationals working in Iraq for the release of the two Lebanese men. The Iraqis and the two Indonesian women were freed in October 2004. Marwan and Mohammed were freed in exchange for a ransom in November 2004.
Morocco 2 killed • Driver Abderrahim Boualam and assistant Abdelkrim El Mouhafidim, both workers at the Moroccan embassy in Baghdad, went missing on October 20, 2005 while driving back from
Jordan. On October 25, 2005, militants claimed their kidnapping. On November 3, 2005, Al Qaeda in Iraq said in an internet statement that it had decided to kill the two hostages.
Ziad Khalaf Raja al-Karbouly later confessed to having arranged the kidnappings. He stated that two Kurds were kidnapped with the Moroccans and were later released.
Nepal 12 killed • Gyanendra Shrestha, Manoj Kumar Thakur, Rajendra Kumar Shrestha, Jit Bahadur Thapa, Budha Kumar Shas, Ramesh Khadka, Mangal Bahadur Limbu, Sanjaya Kumar Thakur, Lalan Sing Koirala, Chhok Bahadur Thapa, Prakash Adhikari, and Bishnu Hari Thapa, were twelve Nepalese taken hostage on August 23, 2004. A video from August 31, 2004, showed the beheading of one and the shooting of the eleven others.
1 released • Inus Dewari was kidnapped November 1, 2004, in Baghdad. He was released on November 6, 2004.
Palestine 1 of unknown fate • Rami Daas, a 26-year-old Palestinian student, was reported by his family as having been kidnapped on May 9, 2005, by gunmen in the northern city of
Mosul. His fate is unknown.
Pakistan 2 killed • Azad Hussein Khan, an engineer and Sajjad Naeem, a driver, were kidnapped on July 23, 2004, and killed. Their captors demanded their Kuwaiti company leave Iraq. In a video released on July 29, 2004, their bodies were shown. An Iraqi driver who was held with them was released.
13 released • Amjad Hafeez, a driver, was kidnapped on June 25, 2004. He was freed on July 2, 2004. • An embassy worker was abducted on April 25, 2005, but released two weeks later. • Eleven construction workers were kidnapped from their bus near Nasiriyah on August 13, 2005. They were released August 22, 2005.
Russia 4 killed • Fyodor Zaitsev, third secretary of the
Russian Embassy in Iraq, and embassy employees Rinat Agliulin, Anatoly Smirnov and Oleg Fyodoseyev were
abducted after an ambush in Baghdad on June 3, 2006. Another employee, Vitaly Titov, was shot and killed. A group claimed to have executed them on June 21, 2006, and a video released on June 25, 2006, confirmed their deaths. The kidnapper group gave 48 hours to the Putin administration to pull out his troops from Chechnya. The bodies of the four diplomats were found in 2012.
5 released • Three energy workers, working for the Interenergoservis, were kidnapped April 12, 2004, along with five Ukrainians and a man immediately released, all were released the next day with the insurgents apologizing, noting that they did not realise they were Russian and Ukrainian.
Sri Lanka 1 released • Dinesh Dharmendran Rajaratnam, a truck driver, was kidnapped on October 28, 2004, while ferrying supplies to Kuwait. He was released on December 10, 2004.
9 released • Noureddin Zakaria, a translator, was kidnapped on October 30, 2004, in
Ramadi. He was released on November 6, 2004. • Six Sudanese, including the second secretary at the Sudanese embassy, were abducted in Baghdad on December 23, 2005. They were released on December 31, 2005, after Sudan closed its embassy in Baghdad. • Mohammed Haroun Hamad, a truck driver, was kidnapped along with his colleague Maher Ataya sometime in March 2005. The Islamic Army claimed responsibility in a statement and internet video for the abductions on March 9. The group claimed that a Sharia Council would decide their fates. On April 6, 2005, a second video announced that the Sharia Council decided to release Mohammed and Maher.
Sweden 1 released • Ulf Hjertström, an oil broker, was taken hostage on March 25, 2005. He was released on May 30, 2005.
Switzerland 2 released • Two Swiss nationals, a married couple who worked for a
NGO, were kidnapped on April 20, 2004, by an unknown group. They were held hostage for 48 hours and released on April 22, 2004, after relatives of the kidnappers from the Obaida tribe promised to pressure
Yemeni authorities. Some reports listed the couple as tourists.
Syria 1 released • Mohammed al-Joundi, the driver for Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, was kidnapped on August 21, 2004. He was freed by US troops in
Fallujah on November 12, 2004.
Turkey 5 killed • Durmus Kumdereli, a truck driver, was kidnapped on August 14, 2004. He was having dinner in a restaurant a few miles away from Mosul. He was kidnapped in that restaurant with Mustafa Köksal by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's men. Kumdereli was decapitated on August 17, 2004 by Jama'at al-Tawhid wal-Jihad. Koksal was freed on August 18, 2004. • Dursun Ali Yildirim Tek, a truck driver, was kidnapped on July 23, 2006. Two videos were broadcast on the internet in which his captors demanded the Turkish government end all cooperation with Iraq and that they shut down the company Tek worked for. In the second video, a 72-hour deadline was issued in which Turkey had to give in to the captors' demands or Tek would be executed. He was killed in October after the deadline passed and his body was found near Baghdad's Airport. His body was identified a month and a half later. • Murat Yuce, a truck driver, was kidnapped in Iraq along with his colleague Aytullah Gezmen in late July 2004. A video showing
Abu Ayyub al-Masri shooting Yuce in the head was posted on a web site on August 2, 2004. Aytullah was released a month later. • Maher Kemal, a contractor, was reported beheaded on October 11, 2004. • Razaman Elbu, a truck driver, was kidnapped and executed in a video on October 14, 2004.
6 released • Bulent Yanik, a truck driver, was kidnapped on June 1, 2004 and released on June 18. • Abdulkadir Tanrikulu, a businessman, abducted by gunmen from the Bakhan Hotel in Baghdad on January 13, 2005. He was freed on June 29, 2005. • Ali Musluoglu, a businessman, was kidnapped in Baghdad on May 19, 2005. He was released on September 20, 2005 in exchange for a $250,000 ransom. • Aytullah Gezmen, a truck driver, was kidnapped on July 31, 2004, along with his colleague Murat Yuce. Murat was executed on August 16, 2004. Aytullah was released a month later after he "repented" working for the Americans.
United Arab Emirates 1 released • Naji Rashid al-Nuaimi, the first secretary of the UAE's embassy in Baghdad, was abducted by gunmen on May 16, 2006. His captors demanded that the UAE abandon its presence in Iraq. Nuaimi was freed on May 30, 2006. His Sudanese driver was wounded and later died of his injuries. ==See also==