Russia confirms “with deep pain” deaths of its four diplomats taken hostage in Iraq

A video tape posted by an al Qaeda-led group Sunday showed three men described as the Russian hostages being killed. Four Russian diplomats were kidnapped earlier this month against Moscow’s withdrawal from Chechnya and release of Muslim prisoners.
Two masked militants are shown beheading one man and shooting another. The beheaded body of a third appears on the tape. The fate of a fourth hostage was not clear. The murders were claimed by the Mujahideen Shura Council in Iraq.