BAGHDAD, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The Iraqi police said Saturday the authorities have found the body of an Egyptian hostage who was kidnapped by gunmen north of Baghdad.
A police official said the Egyptian, identified as Mohammad Ibrahim al-Hilali, was kidnapped from his house in Tikrit last week.
He said his body was found dumped on a road between Tikrit and Biji north of the capital.
The official explained that al-Hilali was a "commercial contractor with an American base" in Tikrit and that his abductors had "accused him of spying for the occupation forces."
The official Egyptian Middle East News Agency reported earlier in the day that al-Hilali was kidnapped, but did not say when or from where.
Several Egyptians have been abducted since the U.S.-led toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in April 2003.
Ihab al-Sherif, Egypt's first ambassador to Baghdad since the American-British invasion of Iraq, was kidnapped and executed in July.
Al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born Abu Musab Zarqawi, claimed responsibility for the envoy's death.
Meanwhile, the fate of two Canadians, an American and a British national abducted on Nov. 26 remained unknown as their captors threatened to execute them if the U.S. and British governments did not meet their demands to release Iraqi prisoners within the next two days.
