An Islamist group holding four Italians demanded Italy pull its troops out of Iraq, after other kidnappers freed five Ukrainians and three Russians today in the latest spin of the hostage carousel.
The past week's kidnappings have lent a new dimension to the Iraq conflict, snaring civilians from a dozen countries, some of which, like Russia, opposed the war that ousted Saddam Hussein.
Television pictures showed four men described as Italian hostages seated on the ground holding their passports. Heavily armed men stood around them.
Italy's Foreign Ministry confirmed four Italians were missing and said they worked for a security company. Insurgents said last week they had captured four Italians.
The Ukrainians and Russians were freed a day after they were seized in Iraq, where a US military crackdown has led to the abduction of over 40 foreigners and a flareup of violence.
But Russia's biggest contractor in Iraq said it was now evacuating all its 370 staff and Moscow said it was ready to help all the roughly 500 Russians in Iraq leave the country.
France also urged its citizens to leave Iraq and postpone any plans to travel there.
Seven Chinese seized separately near Falluja were freed on Monday and three Czech journalists were missing. The fate of three Japanese hostages remained unclear.
While fighting erupted around the flashpoint Sunni Muslim town of Falluja, US forces kept up pressure on hardline Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr detaining one of his aides in a Baghdad hotel and taking him away in an armoured vehicle.
US forces released Hazem al-Araji after five hours saying he had no direct part in recent violence by Sadr's militia.
Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army militia staged an uprising across the south last week, posing a new challenge to U.S.-led forces struggling to crush a Sunni insurgency in central Iraq.
Mr Sadr said in a television interview he was willing to sacrifice his life, but urged his followers to keep up the struggle against the US-led occupation, even if he was killed.