Foreign hostages in Iraq

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Members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign hostages in Iraq beginning in April 2004. Since then, in a dramatic instance of Islamist kidnapping they have taken captive more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis; among them, dozens of hostages were killed and others rescued or freed. 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 motives for these kidnappings include: * influencing foreign governments with troops in Iraq to withdraw * influencing foreign companies with workers in Iraq to leave the country * demanding ransom money * creating terror in Iraq * discouraging travel to Iraq * prisoner exchange

The following is a list of known civilian foreign nationals who have been taken hostage in Iraq. Provided by Wikipedia