Enzo G. Baldoni (October 8, 1948 – August 26, 2004) was an Italian journalist working freelance and for the Italian news magazine ''Diario'' before being kidnapped and killed in captivity as captured on video by his captors. Baldoni was one of two Italians kidnapped in Iraq.

Personal

Baldoni was born in

Città di Castello, Umbria A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

. He had arrived in Baghdad a few weeks before his kidnapping and death, and also served there as a Red Cross volunteer. He was married with two children.

Career

Baldoni had started his career in diverse jobs including working as a mason (in Belgium), a gymnastics professor, photographer, interpreter and laboratory technician. He then moved into advertising, working for the advertising agency ''Le balene colpiscono ancora'' ("The whales strike again"). Finally, he became a freelance journalist. He was also a translator, and was responsible for the Italian translation of '' Doonesbury'' comic strips.

Kidnapping and death

He was kidnapped near Najaf, Iraq, 19 August 2004 by the " Islamic Army in Iraq", a Muslim fundamentalist terrorist organization, allegedly linked with

Al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

. His driver-interpreter was killed during the abduction. The Islamic Army released a videotape, aired on August 24 by

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

, in which it threatened to kill Baldoni unless Italian troops were withdrawn from Iraq within 48 hours. On August 26, Al Jazeera came into possession of a videotape depicting Baldoni's murder. This videotape was not aired because of its gruesome nature. The existence of this tape is based on claims made by Al Jazeera only. Other sources claim it is only a video frame or a still shot taken with a digital camera.

References

External links

Diario

Press freedom groups condemn killing
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IFEX Ifosfamide (IFO), sold under the brand name Ifex among others, is a chemotherapy medication used to treat a number of types of cancer. This includes testicular cancer, soft tissue sarcoma, osteosarcoma, bladder cancer, small cell lung cancer, cer ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baldoni, Enzo 1948 births 2004 deaths 20th-century Italian journalists 21st-century Italian journalists 20th-century Italian translators Filmed assassinations People from Città di Castello Foreign hostages in Iraq Journalists killed while covering the Iraq War Italian people taken hostage Assassinated Italian journalists Italian war correspondents Italian male journalists

Personal

Career

Kidnapping and death

See also

References

External links