Iraq is doing all it can to secure the release of a British and two US hostages but will not give in to demands or negotiate with terrorists, Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said today.
Speaking on BBC television on a visit to Britain, Mr Zebari said he hoped the hostages, who were seized from a house in Baghdad on Thursday by militants, would be released safely but warned: "These are difficult times".
"We are doing our best as a government ... to ensure their safe release and we hope they will come back safely," he said.
Internet video footage released on Saturday showed the two US and one British hostages kneeling blindfolded, with a hooded gunman aiming his weapon at the head of one captive.
The gunman said the Tawhid and Jihad group led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi would kill the men unless Iraqi women prisoners were freed from two Iraqi jails within 48 hours.
Asked if his government was prepared to give in to the hostage-takers' demands, Zebari said: "I think that would set a very bad precedent. Our policy is not to negotiate with terrorists. These people have an agenda of trying to undermine this government and derail the process ... and they have ideologically very extreme views."
Mr Zebari insisted that elections in Iraq - scheduled to take place in January - must go ahead on time despite the wave of deadly insurgency which is destabilising the country.
"We should not waiver or hesitate at all to hold these elections. They are key to the success of this political process," he said.
But he called on the United Nations to step up its support for Iraq, criticising the group for not doing enough so far to help organise the election.
"Unfortunately they are not doing enough to help us. Up until now they have only about 30 international staffers in Baghdad," he said.