Men tied up, throats slit in Iraq*

October 13, 2006 08:28pm
Article from: Reuters

THE bodies of 14 construction workers, their throats slit and their
hands and legs bound, have been found in a rural area near Baghdad,
police have said.

Police have said the labourers, among 17 workers who had been kidnapped
after leaving their work on Thursday, were discovered in an orchard near
Dhuluiya, 40km north of Baghdad.

Police have said most of the victims are from the mainly Shiite town of
Balad, north of Baghdad.

They had been snatched from their vehicle at dawn and killed by
unidentified gunmen, police have said.

The motive was not clear but Iraq has been gripped by sectarian killings
pitching Shiites against Sunni Arabs since the bombing of a Shiite
shrine in Samarra in February.

Police have imposed a daylight curfew in Dhuluiya.