Aid Agencies say they may pull out of Iraq by Sophie Arie in Rome & Luke Harding in Baghdad The Guardian 10:36am 9th Sep, 2004   September 9, 2004    The remaining international aid agencies in Iraq are considering pulling out of the country after the kidnapping of four humanitarian workers, including two Italian women, from their headquarters in Baghdad, it was claimed yesterday.    Jean-Dominique Bunel, a coordinator for the agencies, said the abduction on Tuesday had already prompted some aid workers to leave and others would follow by the end of the week.    "We are reviewing the situation," Mr Bunel told Reuters. Speaking to Agence France Press, he said: "It seems that most of the international non-governmental organisations are preparing to leave Iraq and some expatriate [staff] already left this morning.    "More will follow in coming days. The flights are full until Friday."    Mr Bunel said he was speaking for about 50 international agencies operating in Iraq. He said he had no idea who had abducted the Italian women, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari, who worked for Bridge to Baghdad, an organisation helping children across the country.    However, an Iraqi militant group called Ansar al-Zawahri said it had kidnapped the women.In a message posted on an Islamist website, the group claimed that "this is the first of our attacks against Italy". The name, Partisans of Zawahri, appears to refer to Osama bin Laden's right-hand man, Ayman al-Zawahri. But there were doubts last night about the authenticity of the statement, which made no other demands.    Virtually all major aid organisations have left Iraq because of the deteriorating security situation, including the UN, the International Red Cross and Medecins sans Frontieres.    Those that have stayed have had to reassess the situation because of the nature of this week's kidnapping, which involved 20 armed gunmen bursting into the organisation's office on Tuesday afternoon in central Baghdad. It marked a change in strategy by the hostage takers, who have not targeted aid workers or women, except for one Japanese woman. Most hostages have been captured on roads and in conflict zones outside the capital.    In Italy yesterday, friends and colleagues of the women expressed shock, and the prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, called on leftwing opposition leaders to stand with the right in the face of crisis.    Mr Berlusconi was said to be "aghast and flabbergasted" that women were being harmed because "Islam teaches that they are sacred".    In a statement, opposition leaders repeated their opposition to the war in Iraq and Italy's military presence there, but said the priority was to save the hostages.    The deputy prime minister, Gianfranco Fini, said the kidnapping showed that "terrorists had made a quantum leap in their strategy".    Roberto Calderoli, a cabinet minister in Mr Berlusconi's centre-right government, described the attack as "a declaration of war against the west" because Iraqi rebels made no distinction between military and civilian foreigners in their country.    The Italian media broadcast footage of the women playing with children in Iraq and talking of their passion for their work. The Corriere della Sera newspaper said the kidnappers probably "knew perfectly well" what the women did and kidnapped them "to show they don't distinguish" between aid workers and soldiers.    Pope John Paul joined in a prayer for their release with pilgrims at his general audience and a Vatican newspaper headline said: "Women of peace are hostages of war".    Leaders of the Muslim community in Italy addressed the nation through Vatican radio, condemning the attack, calling for the women to be released and repeating that their capture goes against Islamic teaching..
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