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Iraqi group claims to have killed American hostage in video
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-19 17:01
An extremist group, the Islamic Army of Iraq, posted a video on a web site
Monday that showed an unidentified man being shot in the back of the head, and
the group claimed the killing was of American adviser Ronald Allen Schulz.
The video did not show the face of the victim, however, and it was impossible
to identify him conclusively. The victim was kneeling with his back to the
camera, with his hands tied behind his back and blindfolded with an Arab
headdress when he was shot.
In a separate piece of film, shown on a split screen as the killing was
aired, the extremist group also showed a picture of Schulz alive. The group had
aired the same footage of Schulz alive when he was first taken hostage earlier
this month.
In an earlier Internet posting last week, the group had claimed it killed
Schulz, and then later said it would show the killing.
Schulz, a civilian contractor, has been identified by the extremist group as
a security consultant for the Iraqi Housing Ministry, although neighbors and
family from Alaska, where he lives, say he is an industrial electrician who has
worked on contracts around the world.
Schulz, a native of North Dakota, served in the Marine Corps from 1984 to
1991. He moved to Alaska six years ago, and friends and family say he is
divorced.
The videotaped killing showed the man being shot as he kneeled in an open,
empty area of dirt. The video also showed Schulz's identity
card.
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