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29 March 2024

Austrian kidnapped in Iraq found dead

Published
By Agencies

 

An Austrian security contractor kidnapped in Iraq in late 2006 alongside four Americans has been found dead, Austrian Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik said in a statement on Saturday.


"The suffering and uncertainty of the last 18 months have made way for a sad certitude. Bert Nussbaumer is no longer alive," Plassnik said.

The FBI said Thursday it had found the bodies of two more American contractors who were kidnapped in November 2006 while escorting a Kuwaiti Red Crescent convoy near Basra in southern Iraq and the remains of a third unidentified victim.

It had announced on Monday the discovery of the body of another one of the four Americans.

Austrian media said Nussbaumer's identity had been established by the FBI.

The body of the fifth contractor in the kidnapped group has never been found.

Nussbaumer's mother and brother were in the United States on Friday to meet the families of the other kidnap victims.

"Unfortunately our efforts have failed, Bert Nussbaumer seems to have become the victim of a barbarous crime," said Plassnik.

Plassnik thanked some 20 countries including Britain, Germany and the United States for their help in trying to free Nussbaumer but said the kidnappers had never made any requests directly to Vienna. (AFP)