Iraq Coalition Members Not To Give In To Hostage Takers

6 August 2004 -- The U.S. State Department says 10 allied countries have joined in a campaign to notify hostage-takers in Iraq that they should not expect concessions to liberate their captives.

The department says the countries are Britain, Slovakia, Singapore, New Zealand, Latvia, Kazakstan, Estonia, Denmark, Australia, and Albania. The United States and Bulgaria have issued statements earlier ruling out concessions.

All are part of a 31-nation, U.S.-led coalition that has troops in Iraq. Britain, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Denmark, Estonia, Hungary, and Latvia all have reported the death of military service members.

The United States, with by far the largest contingent of 138,000, has reported 917 deaths since the beginning of military
operations in March 2003.

(U.S. State Dept./AP)