American hostage begs Arab leaders for help

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An American hostage pleaded for his life with a rifle pointed at his head in a video released Tuesday, while nine Iraqis, including a senior judge, were killed in a series of attacks that highlighted the security risks ahead of this weekend's elections.\nOn a day when the U.S. military said six American soldiers had died, interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi also said the time was not right to talk of a U.S. troop withdrawal. Iraq must first build up its security forces to confront the insurgents, Allawi said.\nIn the video, hostage Roy Hallums spoke slowly, rubbing his hands as he sat with the barrel of the rifle inches from his head. He said he had been arrested by a "resistance group" because "I have worked with American forces." He appealed to Arab leaders, including Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, to save his life.\nHallums, 56, was seized Nov. 1 along with Filipino Robert Tarongoy during an armed assault on their compound in Baghdad's Mansour district. The two worked for a Saudi company that does catering for the Iraqi army. The Filipino was not shown.\n"I am please asking for help because my life is in danger because it's been proved I worked for American forces," the bearded Hallums said. "I'm not asking for any help from President Bush because I know of his selfishness and unconcern for those who've been pushed into this hellhole."\nHallums said he was asking for help from "Arab rulers, especially President Moammar Gadhafi because he's known for helping those who are suffering."\nHis ex-wife, Susan Hallums, told reporters outside her Corona, Calif., home that he has "never hurt anybody in his life."\n"He mentioned in the video that -- I believe he said he wouldn't ask President Bush to do anything -- but please President Bush do something," Susan Hallums said. "I'm sure it was a speech he was supposed to say, but he's an American hero, and I think we should try to help him out. He needs our help."\nShe is separated from her husband, who is the father of their two daughters.\nA statement that surfaced Tuesday in the name of the Islamic Army in Iraq called for more kidnappings and attacks before Sunday's elections.\nThe call, made on a Web site known for its Islamic militant content, could not be authenticated. Militants have used the site to claim responsibility for attacks and to condemn the Iraqi government and U.S.-led forces in Iraq. Less often, they have made such direct appeals for violence.\n"Enemies of God such as the Americans and their agents, the hypocrites and the apostates, are attempting to make the infidel elections succeed at the end of the month," the statement said. To that end, it said "the headquarters of the Islamic Army in Iraq is giving its orders to all troops affiliated with it everywhere to escalate their operations to the maximum."\nOfficials have warned of a surge in violence around the elections, which insurgents have vowed to disrupt.\nAt least 10 Americans have been taken hostage, but only one has been freed or escaped.\nFighting erupted Tuesday in Baghdad's eastern Al Rashad neighborhood as police fired on insurgents who were handing out leaflets warning people not to vote.\nAbout the same time in the same neighborhood, insurgents fired on police who were checking on a possible car bomb.\nAnother bomb blew off the gate of a secondary school in the neighborhood, and gunmen opened fire on Iraqi and U.S. forces responding to the blast.\nThree policemen were killed and nine were wounded in the clashes, according to an official at Kindi Hospital. Two insurgents died, and a shopkeeper also was killed in the crossfire. Earlier officials reported 11 policemen were killed and offered no explanation for the revised toll.