Apperantly the kidnappers went back on an extension for negotiations. Dirty bastards.
BAGHDAD, Iraq A South Korean businessman held hostage in Iraq was beheaded Tuesday, in spite of promises of an extended deadline on his execution, according to Al-Jazeera television.
Kim Sun-il (search ) had been held hostage by suspected Al Qaeda-linked abductors, who originally said they'd kill him Tuesday but then extended that deadline during negotiations, according to Ahmed al-Ghreiri, an employee with the NKTS security firm that is acting as an intermediary.
But his captors apparently changed their mind and executed Kim anyway, Al-Jazeera reported.
No other information about Kim's beheading was immediately available. He is the third kidnapping victim killed in that manner in the past two months.
Earlier Tuesday, the Seoul (search) government said it would evacuate all its citizens working for businesses in Iraq by early July.
NKTS official Kim Hyun-taek had said the captors have asked to negotiate with company president Choi Sung-gab, who will leave for Iraq as early as Wednesday afternoon.
The Muslim extremist captors had originally threatened to kill the 33-year-old Kim if the South Korean government did not cancel its planned deployment of 3,000 troops to Iraq by early Tuesday.
But the president of NKTS, which supplies the bodyguards for Jordan's royal family, said Tuesday that they'd dropped that demand, Reuters news service reported.
Reuters reported that the Web site for the JoongAng Ilbo newspaper quoted NKTS president Choi Seung-gap as saying Kim's kidnappers had put forth new demands that Seoul was willing to meet.
Choi wasn't specific because he didn't want to rattle the negotiations process, according to Reuters.
"It is highly likely we will see a resolution because in Iraq they have a good impression about South Korea," said Choi, who made the comments to South Korean reporters on Tuesday.
The South Korean government said Tuesday it will evacuate the last of its 22 nationals in Iraq by early next month. Most work for South Korean companies that supply the U.S. military, said Commerce, Industry and Energy Minister Lee Hee-beom.
Kim, who works for a trading company in Baghdad, was believed to have been kidnapped about 10 days ago. A videotape broadcast by the Arab TV station Al-Jazeera showed him pleading for his life.
"We have checked through our business partner in Iraq five or six times and we are sure that he is still alive," Kim Hyun-taek said earlier Tuesday. "The fact that they are willing to negotiate with our president shows that the situation is optimistic."
He said the go-between was not allowed to see Kim Sun-il in person.
The kidnappers claimed to be from the Monotheism and Jihad group led by Jordanian-born terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi (search), who is believed to have ties to Al Qaeda (search).
The recent abductions and attacks appear aimed at undermining the interim Iraqi government set to take power June 30, when the U.S.-led occupation formally ends.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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