CAIRO, September 11 (IslamOnline.net) – Muslims and the Iraqi community in Italy have launches two separate appeals for kidnappers in Iraq to release two Italian aid workers "immediately and unconditionally".

"Whoever you may be, and whatever may be the motivations that induced to commit this deed, release Simona Pari and Simona Torretta immediately and unconditionally," the Union of the Islamic Communities of Italy in a statement obtained by IslamOnline.net on Saturday, September 11.

The union launched the "Free them" campaign shortly after news that Pari and Torretta were abducted along with two Iraqi co-workers by 20 men armed with AK-47 assault rifles and pistols from the office of their humanitarian organization, "A Bridge to Baghdad" on Tuesday, September 7.

The statement made it clear to the kidnappers seizing civilian hostages in the country that their act runs counter to the tenets of Islam.

"In the name of the God of mercy and peace, if there is still a grain of faith in you, in the name of the solidarity that these women gave to those who needed it most, in the name of the justice between all God’s children which our religion and heritage demand of us all."

"Our Islamic Community in Italy will accept from you no other solution than [their] speedy release and their Iraqi co-workers," it concluded.

There is an estimated one million officially registered Muslims - making Islam the country’s second and fastest growing, religion in the country.

The Iraqi community in Italy added a voice to those calling for the release of the two detainees.

"We, the members of the Iraqi Community living in Italy, address this appeal to those who are holding the two Simonas and the two Iraqi aid workers to remind you that many of us, in recent years, have had the opportunity to get to know these two women and the organization they work with very well. We have learned to love them for everything they have done for our people," read the appeal, sent to IOL on Friday, September 10.

The appeal said the two women stood against the embargo declared against Iraq and that their group have always worked to mitigate the suffering of Iraqis after the sanctions were imposed on 1991.

"We beseech you, in the name of God, the most Merciful and Compassionate, on behalf of our poor and desperate people; renounce all your evil intentions. Free the two Iraqis and Release the two Simonas, send them home, back to their family, which are the children of Iraq."

"They have had nothing to do with all the suffering of our people: no one more than them is further away from the agents that have caused our suffering. If Iraq is ever to live in peace and independence it will be thanks to people like our dearest, beloved Simonas," said the appeal.

The aid organization used to work for is a long-standing opponent of Western policy towards Iraq, and had campaigned vigorously against the crippling UN sanctions enforced against Iraq due to its 1990 invasion of Kuwait right up to last year.

Under Saddam Hussein's regime, it ran health care, education and water treatment projects in a bid to alleviate their impact on the Iraqi people.

"It’s a nightmare to think of these people being abducted and subjected, perhaps, to great fear and punishment at this moment, but most of all, I think we need to uphold what they have stood for as a witness against war," said Kathy Kelly, co-founder of the Chicago-based Voices in the Wilderness, who worked closely with one of the two Italian hostages for years.

But a statement posted on a Web site by a group calling itself "Ansar al Zawahiri", claimed responsibility and said the kidnapping marked "the first of our attacks against Italy."

The group demanded that Italy withdraw its troops and "stop killing Muslims in Iraq and cooperating with American forces."

But there was no way of authenticating the statement, which was not accompanied by the photos or video footage typically issued by the groups who have seized more than 100 foreign hostages in Iraq this year.

After the abduction of the two Italians, world Muslim scholars were quick to condemn the practice of seizing and killing civilians.

On Thursday, September 9, prominent Muslim scholar Yusuf Al-Qaradawi has vehemently opposed kidnapping and killing innocent civilians.