Four Lebanese truckers taken hostage in Iraq

BEIRUT -- Four Lebanese truck drivers have been taken hostage in Iraq, an official in Beirut's Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the four were captured Thursday while driving on a road between Baghdad and Ramadi, a volatile region west of the capital.

The head of the Lebanese Truckers' Association said the drivers were taking electric generators to Iraq to sell to traders and had no links with US or any other foreign troops.

"They were supposed to arrive in Baghdad last night," Chafic al-Assis said. "Our office in Baghdad called this morning to say they didn't show up."

A family in Lebanon identified two of the truckers as brothers Nasir al-Jundi and Taha al-Jundi, and said they left Lebanon on Sunday. Other Lebanese drivers in Iraq called the family yesterday to say they had not arrived.

Relatives said each man is married with two children. They appealed for the men's release, saying they had gone to Iraq only to earn a living.

Border documents listed two other Lebanese men who crossed with the brothers as Khaldun Osman and Qasim Murqbawi.