CAIRO, Egypt – A Saudi company employing an Egyptian driver held hostage by insurgents in Iraq (search) said Wednesday it would stop work in the country to win the captive's freedom.
Faisal al-Naheet, owner of the unidentified Saudi company, told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera television his company "will stop our work in Iraq in order to save the life of the hostage who works for us as a driver."
It was unclear if al-Naheet meant the company was about to leave Iraq or was awaiting developments in the hostage's case before withdrawing.
Earlier Wednesday, Al-Jazeera reported that the Iraqi Legitimate Resistance group that kidnapped the Egyptian, 42-year-old Alsayeid Mohammed Alsayeid Algarabawi (search), demanded the Saudi company leave Iraq within 72 hours. The group issued no specific threat.
Al-Naheet said the kidnappers also were demanding a $1 million ransom, but he said the company would not pay.
Algarabawi appeared last week in a videotape released by the group and broadcast on Al-Jazeera, showing him kneeling and holding his passport in front a group of armed militants.
The group said Algarabawi was snatched from a fuel truck he was driving from Saudi Arabia (search) to the U.S. military in Iraq.
Last month, another Egyptian driver, Victor Tawfiq Gerges, was released after being held hostage by a militant group in Iraq for more than two weeks.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox