Iraq's foreign minister said Sunday his government won't meet the demands of kidnappers who seized a Briton and two Americans in Baghdad. The Tawhid and Jihad group has claimed responsibility for kidnapping Americans Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong and Briton Kenneth Bigley. In a videotape that surfaced Saturday, the group threatened to behead the construction contractors within two days and demanded the release of Iraqi women detained in two American prisons in Iraq. But foreign minister Hoshyar Zebari said it would set "a very bad precedent" to give in to the demands. "These people have an agenda trying to undermine this government, to influence the U.S. elections, even beyond Iraq. They have ideological, very extreme views," Zebari told BBC TV's "Breakfast With Frost" program. "We are doing our best as a government to help and assist the interior ministry through getting as much information as possible and contacting third parties," he said. "But these times are difficult. We hope they will come home safely." Zebari was in London with Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, who was holding talks with his British counterpart Tony Blair on Sunday. Blair has said that everything possible is being done to secure Bigley's release.
