ATHENS, Aug 26 (AFP) - Iraq's football coach Adnan Hamd has pleaded for the release of an Italian journalist being held by Islamic militants as his team wrap up their Olympics campaign.
Hamd's team play Italy in a match for the bronze medal in Salonika on Friday and the Iraqis have used the occasion to call on kidnappers holding Enzo Baldoni to release the father of two immediately.
"We want to send a message of peace to those who have taken him," Hamd said. "They should let him go back to his family. We are all brothers, we are all human beings.
"We don't have anything against the Americans or anyone else, even if our country has been destroyed."
Baldoni's captors, a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq, released video footage on Tuesday of the journalist, demanding that Italy withdraw its 3,000 troops from Iraq. Rome immediately vowed to maintain its forces.
The group did not specify the consequences of a failure to comply, saying only that "it cannot guarantee the Italian's safety," Arabic satellite broadcaster Al-Jazeera reported.
Iraq's footballers have enjoyed a high profile at the Olympics, upsetting the form book by reaching the semi-finals where they were beaten by Paraguay.