Iraq:Al-Qaida -led insurgents decide to kill four kidnapped Russians

Iraq:Al-Qaida -led insurgents decide to kill four kidnapped Russians

The Mujahedeen Shura Council said Moscow had failed to meet its demands for a full withdrawal of troops from the war-torn region of Chechnya and that a 48-hour deadline set in a statement issued Monday had passed.

The Shura Council is a grouping of seven Iraqi insurgent groups, most prominent among them al-Qaida in Iraq, which on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the slaying of two kidnapped U.S. soldiers.

The statement, whose authenticity could not be confirmed, did not state that the Russians were killed. The four embassy workers were abducted on June 3 in an attack on their car in which a fifth Russian was killed, according to the AP.