Algeria confirms killing of its diplomats in Iraq

The Algerian presidency on Wednesday confirmed the killing of its two diplomats in Iraq. The two men were announced kidnapped in Iraq last Thursday and a statement on their execution was issued on Wednesday.

The Algerian radio interrupted its program to broadcast a statement issued by the office of the Algerian President Abdul Aziz Butaflika, in which it said that ambassador Ali Bal'arousi ( 62 year old) and the diplomat ezz eddine Benqadi i ( 47 year old ) were executed in Iraq.

Al-Qaida organization in Iraq had announced in a statement issued on its Internet site that it had killed the two Algerian diplomats.

The message read "your brothers in the military wing of al-Qaida organization in Mesopotamia on Wednesday executed the two Algerian diplomats." The statement considered that the chairman of the Algerian mission Bal'arusi and the diplomatic attache Benqadi are "Murtad" (Arabic word meaning that they are no longer Muslims).

News Agencies