] A militant group has threatened to kill three Italian
] hostages unless their countrymen demonstrate against the
] presence of Italian troops in Iraq, according to a video
] aired on an Arabic news channel.

[ This is new to me, though perhaps others can refute... i've never before seen hostage takers issue demands to the public at large like this. Certainly it's common enough to take prisoners and then demand that the nation withdraw their support, etc. etc., but that's directed at governments, at the leaders. It seems like a unique capability of the current media centric world that these people can demand action of the entire nation of Italy, directly.

Will the government of Italy consider a demonstration (if the people acquiese) valid? Will it carry more weight than the terrorists' previous demands directly to the government? Can people, large numbers of them, be motivated in this way? -k]

CNN.com - Protest 'or Italian hostages die' - Apr 26, 2004