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Iraqi militias threaten to kidnap Prince Harry

Mark Townsend

"He will be sent back without his ears", says Shia group

Prince Harry

London: Prince Harry was left under no illusions of his value as a scalp for Iraqi militants. Iraqi militia groups have already hatched detailed plans to seize him as a hostage when he arrives in Iraq in May.

In a remarkable series of interviews, some of the most notorious paramilitary factions in southern Iraq claim that informants placed inside British military barracks in Iraq have received orders to track the movements of the third in line to the British throne.

Militia leaders claim photographs of Prince Harry have already been downloaded from the Internet and disseminated to the main militant groups in the area where the Prince will be deployed.

Snipers belonging to Shia militia groups have, they claim, been ordered to target the 22-year-old while Sunni militants say they plan to hold the Prince hostage to demand the release of prisoners and immediate withdrawal of British troops.

Abu Zaid, commander of the Malik Ibn al Ashtar Brigade of the notorious Mehdi Army Shia militia, said: "We are awaiting the arrival of the young, handsome, spoilt Prince with baited breath and we confidently expect he will come out into the open on the battlefield.

"We will be generous with him. For he will return him to his grandmother [the Queen] but without ears," added Zaid. We have printed out many photographs of him from the Internet and given them to all other groups.

One prominent militant member said Prince Harry might be targeted by militias for religious reasons. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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