A militant group in Iraq said it had killed two Macedonian hostages whom it accused of spying for the United States, Arabic television Al Jazeera said today.
Al Jazeera said it had received a video tape showing the killing of the men, accompanied by a statement from the Islamic Army in Iraq.
The channel did not name the hostages.
Al Jazeera said it had received a video tape showing the killing of the two men accompanied by a statement from the Islamic Army in Iraq stating it had seized the men a few days ago as they were leaving a US base. Al Jazeera did not show the killing nor did it name the hostages.
An official from the channel gave no further details about the tape. Three Macedonians identified as Mr Dalibor Lazarevski, Mr Dragan Markovic and Mr Zoran Naskovski were seized by militants in Iraq in August and are still missing.
Al Jazeera aired a segment of the video showing two men speaking to the camera and then another shot of what appeared to be their passports. Their statements were not audible.
Militants have kidnapped and killed several foreigners in Iraq to pressure their governments and private companies to end cooperation with the U.S.-led forces.
Macedonia has 32 soldiers in Iraq. The three Macedonians known to be hostage were builders for United Arab Emirates-based Soufan Engineering, catering to the needs of the U.S. military and its private contractor firms.
It was not clear if the kidnappers were the same group as the one that said it had seized two French journalists earlier this year.