SYDNEY, Sept 14 (AFP) - Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said Tuesday that 64 Australians were still unaccounted for in Iraq, amid claims that Iraqi militants have kidnapped two Australians and threatened to kill them.
Downer said the latest information was that 154 Australians were in Iraq, of whom 90 had been confirmed as safe. The whereabouts of the other 64 were unknown, he said.
"The latest information I have is that the Australian embassy in Baghdad has now made contact with 90 people, 90 Australians, who are all okay," Downer told reporters in Sydney. "They have a list of 154 Australians, so there are still 64 they haven't contacted."
Of the 90 contacted, "none of them has reported anything untoward about Australians", he said.
The Australian embassy had also been in touch with security companies in Iraq.
"None of the security companies who the embassy's been in touch with have reported people being taken - employees being taken hostage," Downer said.
The Iraqi group demanded that Australian Prime Minister John Howard personally announce an end to Australia's involvement in Iraq within 24 hours or the hostages would be executed.
It is the same organisation believed to have been behind the gruesome execution of 12 Nepalese workers in Iraq last month.