Egypt ? Al-Qaida in Iraq threatened on Thursday to kill five kidnapped employees of the Sudanese Embassy in Baghdad in two days unless Sudan removes its diplomatic mission from Iraq.

The group, which has kidnapped and killed a string of Arab diplomatic personnel this year, said in a statement on a Web forum where al-Qaida in Iraq frequently posts messages that it had snatched the five Sudanese, who it said included diplomats.

The claim could not be immediately confirmed. It included no photos of the five and did not identify them. The statement did not say when the Sudanese were kidnapped.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported Saturday that six of its embassy employees were kidnapped, including a diplomat – the mission’s second secretary, Abdel Moneam Mohammad Tom. It was not immediately clear if the al-Qaida statement was referring to the same group.

Later Thursday, the Qatari-based Al-Jazeera satellite channel showed footage it said it received from the kidnappers, showing the five Sudanese sitting on chairs, talking to the camera, but no audio was heard. The videotape also showed ID documents from the Sudanese Embassy, but the names could not be discerned.