Iraqi militants are threatening to kill a Turkish hostage in Iraq if his company does not withdraw from Iraq within three days, private NTV television reported. NTV showed a video from a Turkish news agency showing hostage Aytullah Gezmen, who has been missing for several weeks, sitting on a couch and holding his Turkish passport. NTV quoted Gezmen as pleading for help from Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and begging his family to ask the transportation company where he worked to withdraw from Iraq. NTV said that militants threatened that if the company did not withdraw within 72 hours, Gezmen would be killed.
