DUBAI (AFP) - A group calling itself the "Jihad Organization" said it had "slaughtered" two Italian female hostages in Iraq, in a statement posted on an Islamist website.
The authenticity of the claim could not be confirmed.
"We in the Jihad Organization in Iraq announce that the ruling of God Almighty has been implemented on the two Italian prisoners by slaughter," the statement said.
Referring to aid workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta without naming them, it said they were executed "after the Italian government, led by the despicable (Prime Minister Silvio) Berlusconi, did not heed our sole condition (for releasing them), which was to pull out of Iraq."
Italian authorities said they had no information allowing them to confirm the execution of two Italian hostages being held in Iraq, sources close to Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi cited by ANSA news agency said.
The same sources said the information that the two women aid workers had been killed, which was posted on an Islamist website, should be treated with the utmost caution.