BAGHDAD — Captors holding five Britons demanded Tuesday that Britain pull all its forces from Iraq, posting a videotape showing a bearded, haggard-looking victim more than six months after the group was kidnapped.
The purported hostage, speaking clearly with a British accent, identified himself as “Jason” and gave the date as more than two weeks ago. He sat under a sign in Arabic identifying the captors as “The Islamic Shiite Resistance in Iraq.”
“My name is Jason. Today is Nov. 18,” he said, alternately glancing at the camera and downward, perhaps at a piece of paper. “I have been here now for 173 days and I feel we have been forgotten.”
No other hostage was shown.
A written statement featured on the video, aired by al-Arabiya television, accused Britain of plundering the wealth of Iraq and demanded that British troops leave within 10 days. It did not say what would happen if the deadline was not met or when the countdown begins.
Britain’s Foreign Office condemned the broadcast, saying it “serves only to add to the distress of the men’s families and friends.” British officials have not released the names of the kidnapped men.
The kidnapping took place May 29, when about 40 gunmen in police uniforms and driving vehicles used by Iraqi security forces grabbed the four security contractors and a computer consultant from an Iraqi Finance Ministry compound. Suspicion has fallen on Shiite splinter groups that the United States believes have been trained and funded by Iran.
The video was posted as Britain prepares to hand over security control of Basra province to the Iraqis in mid-December.
British troops withdrew in September from their last base in Basra city to an airport garrison on the outskirts, and half the 5,000 British troops in Iraq are due to go home by the spring.
One expert suggested a motivation for the rare broadcast of a video by a purported Shiite group could be to project the hand over as a victory for the militia factions battling for control of the area.
“They’re aware of countries who are already pulling their forces out,” said Ben Venzke, the head of IntelCenter, a Virginia-based firm that tracks terrorist activity. “It can sometimes allow them to tie events to it and hold it out as a victory.”
While Shiite militias frequently kidnap victims for political or sectarian reasons or for ransom, it is unusual for them to air such videos, which are more frequently used by al-Qaeda in Iraq and other militant Sunni groups.
Meanwhile Tuesday, an American soldier was killed in a vehicle explosion during a recovery operation in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.
In another development, the Iraqi Cabinet agreed Tuesday to ask the United Nations to extend the authorization for U.S.-led forces in Iraq through the end of next year, but it will be the last time, officials said.
