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Video of missing contractors released

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BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- In a videotape released Wednesday, four U.S. security contractors and an Austrian co-worker who were abducted in Iraq in November urge the United States to remove its troops from that country.

The men, who appear in good condition, were kidnapped November 16 during an ambush in the southern Iraq town of Safwan, a Sunni Arab city in a predominantly Shiite area.

Before Wednesday, only a reporter with McClatchy Newspapers had the video. Other media were provided only with the audio.

When The Associated Press obtained the video, the news agency released it to its media members.

McClatchy reporter Hannah Allam wrote in a story last week that she was shown the video on December 26 "on condition that the provider's name and other details be withheld for security reasons." She said the video was made two weeks after the abduction.

The video is about 1½ minutes long. It begins with an image of a Quran and a map of Iraq, then changes to a title that reads, "The National Islamic Resistance in Iraq: The Farqan (Quran) Brigades takes responsibility for the kidnapping in Safwan, Basra."

All but one of the men are sitting cross-legged on the floor, with their hands clasped in front of them.

The video of the first three men is separated from that of the last two men by an edit, Allam said, meaning that the tape could have been shot in a different location.

The audio is not always clear. Their statements included the following:

"My name is John Young. I am 44 years old. I am from Kansas City, Missouri. I worked in private security in Iraq. I am asking people in my country to please help me and my friends out of Iraq and to pressure the government to remove troops from Iraq."

"My name is Jonathan Cote. I am 23, from Gainesville, Florida. I work for a private security company. I am asking the American people to put pressure on the government to leave Iraq to help me and my friends to get out of here."

Cote is the only hostage with any sign of injury -- "slight bruising and swelling around his nose and red blotches on his face," Allam said.

"My name is Nussbaumer. ... Austrian citizen. ... I want you to get me and my friends out of Iraq." Though the audio quality is poor, the report said, he is presumably Bert Nussbaumer, 25, of Vienna, Austria.

"My name is Josh Munz from California, U.S.A. I was in the United States Marine Corps in Haditha and Falluja."

"I am Paul. I am 39 years old. I am not quite sure of today's date. I am from Buffalo, Minnesota. I am married. I have twin daughters and they're 16. I have a stepson that's 16, and I am asking America to release us by getting our troops out of America. [Pause] I'm sorry, out of Iraq."

"Paul" refers to Paul Reuben, a former Minnesota police officer.

The video was made "in response to a demand for proof that the men were alive before negotiations for their release could begin," Allam reported.

The person who provided the clip "was confident that the men are still living and remain in the hands of a little-known Shiite Muslim militant group that calls itself the 'Mujahedeen of Jerusalem Company,' " according to Allam.

The men work for the Kuwait-based Crescent Security Group, which conducts convoy escort duties.

Other developments

• Nine people were wounded Wednesday when several mortars exploded in northern Baghdad's Shula district, an interior ministry official told CNN.

• The official also reported that 27 bullet-riddled bodies, most showing signs of torture, were found across Baghdad on Wednesday.

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