Video shows alleged Italian captives in Syria saying "We could be killed"

DAMASCUS, Syria, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- A video released by an unknown group shows two young women in Islamic garb with only their faces showing, saying they are the two Italian women kidnapped while traveling in Syria and "could be killed" by their captors.

The video shows Greta Ramelli, 20, and Vanessa Marzullo, 21, Vanessa's father told CNN.

"I have no doubt it's them," Salvatore Marzullo said of the video, which was posted on YouTube Thursday, some say by the Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra.

"We supplicate our government and its mediators to bring us back home before Christmas," one of the girls in the video says. "We are in big danger and we could be killed. The government and its mediators are responsible for our lives."

A piece of paper held up during the video reads "17-12-14 WEDNESDAY."

Italian authorities consider the video to be authentic, according to Italy's official news agency, ANSA.

Italian intelligence officials told ANSA that "we are in a delicate phase that requires the utmost discretion."

The two went missing in late July and were believed to have been kidnapped and sold between rebel Islamist factions fighting in Syria.