Update Simona

Links from an anonymous commenter re Simona and Simona.

China Daily and the Hindustan Times have also picked it up. More here.

I'm really sorry, to those who know these women. These most recent reports don't seem to have been verified yet. Apparently the announcement was published on a site not normally used by militant groups for posting hostage threat/seizure/execution statements. There is no mention of Ra'ad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnoaz Bassam, the two Iraqi aid workers who were kidnapped with Simona Pari and Torretta from the Un Ponte Per office. These four do not seem to have been held hostage for (perhaps realizable) financial gain but rather, it appears, in an attempt to pressure Italian prime minister Berlusconi to withdraw troops. Which Berlusconi is unlikely to do, if Enzo Baldini's fate is any indication. I am hesitant in publishing this. I am wary of giving credence to kidnappings. There are enough kidnappings as is, let alone providing more free promotional material. Yet, this story has some questionable peculiarites about it.

As always, some bloggers have doubts.