COPENHAGEN, August 5 (AFP) - Denmark said on Thursday that countries taking part in the US-coalition in Iraq "wanted to send a clear signal" to hostage-takers that their demands will not be met.
Thirty-one members of the multi-national coalition have signed a declaration categorically rejecting all negotiations with groups in Iraq who have been kidnapping foreigners and holding them hostage in the war-torn country.
"This declaration constitutes essential proof that the countries in the coalition stand united with the Iraqi government in its condemnation and struggle against terrorism, like the numerous hostage-takings that have taken place in Iraq recently," Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said in a statement.
The declaration, which was published on Wednesday by the US State Department, says: "As members of the multinational force in Iraq ... we are united in our resolve to make no concessions to terrorists, nor to succumb to terrorist threats."
"We understand that conceding to terrorists will only endanger all members of the multinational force, as well as other countries who are contributing to Iraqi reconstruction and humanitarian assistance," the declaration stated.
While 31 countries are currently taking part in the coalition in Iraq, four of them, Britain, Italy, Ukraine and Poland, alone make up three quarters of the non-American troops in the country.
Denmark has 500 soldiers based in the southern Basra region under British command.