Pakistani hostages executed in Iraq

In a new videotape sent to Al Jazeera yesterday, the men said they had carried out their threat, the station reported. The kidnapped men were identified by Pakistan as engineer Raja Azad, 49, and driver Sajad Naeem, 29, both of whom worked for the Kuwait-based Al-Tamimi group in Baghdad. A Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokesman said he had been informed of the killing of two Pakistani hostages in Iraq. Masood Khan said an Arab TV reporter had informed Pakistani Embassy officials in Doha of the Al Jazeera report showing the killing of the two suspected Pakistani hostages.

‘‘It is still not confirmed through official channels that both the Pakistani hostages have been killed,’’ Khan said. ‘‘We regret this gruesome and wanton murders. The whole country has gone into mourning over this news. It is a crime against humanity and Islam, it has no connection with the cause of those who committed it. They have taken the lives of innocent people. Not only we in Pakistan but the world will condemn it.’’

The news of the killings of the two devastated their families who were hoping that their loved once would return home soon.