Russia questions authenticity of record of diplomat’s execution

An al-Qaida-linked group on Sunday posted a Web video apparently showing the graphic killings of three Russian embassy workers. An accompanying statement by the Mujahedeen Shura Council, an umbrella organization linking seven insurgent groups including al-Qaida in Iraq, said the fourth kidnapped diplomat was also killed.

Photo: Russia questions authenticity of record of diplomat’s execution

The 90-second video, posted on an Islamic Web site that frequently airs militant messages, showed two blindfolded men beheaded and the shooting of a third man.

Moscow vehemently opposed the U.S.-led military campaign and has continued to keep its distance from Washington on the issue of Iraq. Four Russian workers were killed in ambushes in Iraq in 2004.

Leonid Slutsky, first deputy head of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, said Moscow would "respond adequately" if the diplomats' death is established, according to the Interfax news agency.