Islamic group kidnaps American in Iraq

DOHA:  A militant group, the Islamic Army in Iraq, claimed Tuesday the kidnapping of a US national and threatened to kill him within 48 hours unless all prisoners are released in Iraq, Al-Jazeera television said.

The Qatar-based satellite television showed a videotape of a blond man with his arms tied behind his back seated on a white plastic chair, and the cover of a US passport and a bank card in the name of Ronald Schulz.   

The group, a Sunni Arab extremist group which has claimed several kidnappings and murders, claimed the hostage was a security advisor to Iraq's housing and construction ministry.

They threatened to kill him within 48 hours unless all prisoners were freed and compensation paid to the restive Al-Anbar province of western Iraq that has been the scene of several US offensives against insurgents, Al-Jazeera said.