An Italian journalist held hostage in Iraq, begged for her life and appealed for foreign troops to leave the country in a tape released by insurgents today.
Ms Giuliana Sgrena. occasionally breaking down in tears on the undated tape, said: "Everyone must withdraw from Iraq. No one should come to Iraq any longer because all foreigners, all Italians are considered enemies. Please do something for me."
A frame grab taken from a video tape shows Ms Giuliana Sgrena, an Italian journalist kidnapped in Iraq, begging for her life and appealing for foreign troops to withdraw from the country
Ms Sgrena, a reporter for Rome-based communist newspaper Il Manifesto, was seized in Baghdad on February 4th as she conducted interviews on the street near Baghdad University.
"I beg my family to help me, my life is in your hands. Put pressure on the government," she added, at one point clasping her hands together in supplication.
However, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini made clear that he would not bow to demands to withdraw soldiers from Iraq.
"The government ... will continue to do everything it can to obtain the freedom of the hostage without altering the political, diplomatic and intelligence strategy that it has followed up until now," Mr Fini said in a statement.
Italy has some 3,000 troops in Iraq, the fourth largest foreign contingent after US, British and South Korean forces.
Ms Sgrena, who was a staunch opponent of the Italian troop deployment, is at least the eighth Italian to have been taken hostage in Iraq. Another journalist, Enzo Baldoni, was seized in August last year and later killed by his captors.
Today's video was the first time that 57-year-old Ms Sgrena has been seen since her kidnapping. Dressed in a green shirt and looking tired, she speaks in both Italian and French, repeating the same pleas for help.
A label on the tape, written in red Arabic script, reads "Mujahadeen without borders."