Saudi Firm Says It Has Quit Iraq to Save Hostage

[Barrett808]

DUBAI (Reuters) - A Saudi transport company said it had pulled out of Iraq to save the life of an Egyptian truck driver taken hostage by kidnappers who demanded the firm leave the country, Al Jazeera satellite television reported Friday.

"We no longer have vehicles in Iraq. All our vehicles were pulled out of Iraq Wednesday, July 14, to ensure the safety of the hostage," the firm said in a statement sent to the channel.

The Faisal al-Neheit Transport Company had promised on Wednesday it would pull out to meet the demands of kidnappers who threatened Tuesday to kill Egyptian truck driver Mohammed Gharabawi within 72 hours.

Al Jazeera reported Thursday that a new statement by the kidnappers had given the firm another deadline of 48 hours "to be sure before carrying out the just verdict."

The group, calling itself "the 1920 Battalions, the military wing of the National Islamic Resistance," also said that after that time it would not deal lightly with those who did business with "infidel occupiers" and fell into its hands, Jazeera said.

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