An Egyptian hostage was freed in Iraq as two British soldiers were killed in a flare-up of violence in southern Iraq yesterday and US warplanes again pounded the rebel-held town of Fallujah.
Jordan's King Abdullah II, a key Western ally in the region, warned that the chaos in the country meant promised nationwide elections probably could not be organized in January.
A spokesman for Egyptian telecom giant Orascom, which employs six Egyptians and two Iraqis kidnapped last week, said one Egyptian was released, retracting an initial statement that two had been freed.
"We thought they had released two, but actually it was one," he said. He added that the two Iraqis had been freed but did not say when.
No groups has publicly claimed the kidnappings of the Orascom employees, but their seizure came amid a spate of hostage-takings that have seen nearly 150 foreigners abducted, mainly by Islamic militant groups.
Two Italian aid workers, two French journalists and a British engineer remain in captivity and there was no word of their fate yesterday. Two US contractors, kidnapped along with Briton Kenneth Bigley, were beheaded last week by their captors from the Unity and Holy War group of alleged Al-Qaeda operative Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
Bigley's brother Paul said on Monday that Palestinian President Yasser Arafat had intervened on behalf of the captive engineer.
British Muslim leaders wrap-ped up a two-day mercy mission to Iraq on Monday to try to save the 62-year-old, and an Italian Muslim leader was expected here to press for the release of the two women aid workers.
The Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that electronic eavesdropping by US intelligence had intercepted a voice that might be one of the two women.
The insurgent enclave of Fallujah, where many of the foreign hostages are believed to have been held, was again pounded by US aircraft overnight.
"Three people were killed and six others wounded," said Dr Rafaa Hiad at the town's main hospital.
US army spokesman Jay Antonelli denied the strike had caused any casualties, although the US-led coalition has no forces in the town since abandoning a month-long siege earlier this year.
In southern Iraq, two British soldiers were killed in a rare ambush of a military convoy.
It was not immediately clear if the attackers were Sunni insurgents or Shiite militiamen. They ambushed a convoy of three British army vehicles southwest of Basra, a defense ministry spokesman said in London.
Hospital officials in Basra said at least two Iraqi bystanders were also injured.
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