Italy defiant

Rome

Italian leaders this week vowed not to be swayed by kidnappers who threatened to kill three Italian hostages in Iraq. An Arabic-language satellite-TV network broadcast a tape in which the kidnappers threatened to execute the men unless Italians rallied for the withdrawal of their country’s 3,000 troops from Iraq. The captors have already murdered a fourth hostage, Fabrizio Quattrocchi. The crisis fueled a national debate. “It’s not even imaginable that terrorists could dictate the foreign policy of our country,” said Enzo Biagi, an opposition parliamentary leader. But relatives of the men, all private security guards, pleaded for help. “We are in the hands of all Italians,” said Stefano Stefio, the father of one of the captives. “Let’s bring these boys home.”

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