Key: (killed-freed-unknown)
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Coalition
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Beginning in April 2004, members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign civilian hostages in Iraq. Since then, they have kidnapped more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis; among them, dozens of foreign hostages have been killed. Nepal (with 12) and the United States (with 11) rank the highest of hostages killed in Iraq. China ranks the highest (with 15) of hostages freed in Iraq followed by Pakistan (with 13) and Egypt (with 10).
There are many motives behind these kidnappings. They include:
- influencing foreign governments with troops in Iraq
- influencing foreign companies with workers in Iraq
- ransom money
- discouraging travel to Iraq
In 2004, executions of captives were often filmed, and many were beheaded. However, the number of the recorded killings decreased significantly. Many hostages remain missing with no clue as to their whereabouts. The United States Department of State Hostage Working Group was organized by the U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, in the summer of 2004 to monitor foreign hostages in Iraq.
The following is a list of known civilian foreign hostages in Iraq.
Famous quotes containing the words foreign and/or hostages:
“We are apt to say that a foreign policy is successful only when the country, or at any rate the governing class, is united behind it. In reality, every line of policy is repudiated by a section, often by an influential section, of the country concerned. A foreign minister who waited until everyone agreed with him would have no foreign policy at all.”
—A.J.P. (Alan John Percivale)
“He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief.”
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626)