Car bomb kills 20, wounds 16 in line applying for Iraqi National Guard

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/09/18/iraq_attack/index.html

Sept. 18, 2004 | KIRKUK, Iraq (AP) -- A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a crowd of people waiting to apply for jobs with the Iraqi National Guard in the northern city of Kirkuk on Saturday, killing at least 20 people and wounding 16, officials said.

Also Saturday, videotape surfaced showing two Americans and a Briton kidnapped two days ago from their house in central Baghdad. Masked gunmen in the footage threatened to kill the men in 48 hours unless female inmates are released from two Iraqi prisons.

The gunmen claim to be from the al-Qaida-linked group Tawhid and Jihad, which is led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and has carried out a number of attacks and kidnappings. The video was the first word on Americans Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong and Briton Kenneth Bigley since their abduction Thursday. The authenticity of the tape could not be verified.

In the footage, each hostage -- sitting on the floor wearing a white blindfold, head slightly bowed -- identifies himself, then says, "My job consists of installing and furnishing camps at Taji base." Taji, a U.S. base, is 15 miles north of Baghdad.