'Execution of hostages in 48 hours'

Baghdad: A group with links to Al Qaida in Iraq said it would execute 20 Iraqi servicemen it has kidnapped in northeast Baghdad, according to media reports.

The group said in an internet statement on Saturday that the policemen and soldiers would be executed unless all Sunni women prisoners in Iraq are freed within 48 hours.

The group also said the government should hand over agents from Iraq's interior ministry who are accused of involvement in the alleged rape of a Sunni woman.

Photos of the men, who were blindfolded and handcuffed, were posted on the internet. The website statement did not say when they were captured.

The kidnap claim could not immediately be verified. The Iraqi government has not yet responded to the group's claim or to its demands.