Three Romanian journalists kidnapped in Baghdad managed to send desperate text messages to relatives and colleagues just before disappearing on Monday, as they became the latest foreigners to be abducted in Iraq.

"We're kidnapped. This is not a joke. Help!!!!," one of the three, Prima TV reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, managed to message her mother from her mobile phone, her mother Magdalena Ion told Realitatea TV on Tuesday.

Ion's cameraman Sorin Miscoci and journalist Ovidiu Ohanesian of the Romania Libera daily newspaper, all on a short reporting trip to Iraq, were also missing, authorities said.

President Traian Basescu said both local and foreign secret services had been alerted and he chaired a meeting of a crisis committee set up to handle the situation.

"President Traian Basescu assures Romanians that Romania has the will and the capacity to defend its citizens," his spokeswoman Adriana Saftoiu said.

The three were seized while Basescu was on a whistlestop visit to Afghanistan and Iraq, where staunch U.S. ally Romania has sent 800 troops to join the U.S.-led force.

Romania is a faithful U.S. ally that has unwaveringly supported the war in Iraq, providing logistical support and troops.

Amid wide political consensus, it joined NATO in 2004 and is eager to host permanent U.S. military bases on its Black Sea coast.

The kidnappings appeared to cause no immediate political backlash for Romania's role in Iraq, with officials saying they suspected the motives were financial rather than political.

"I would like to believe that only economic reasons triggered their situation. I don't want to believe that their kidnapping was politically motivated," said Simona Marinescu, an adviser to the Romanian embassy in Baghdad.

More than 150 foreigners have been seized in Iraq over the past year. Most have been freed after negotiations or payment of ransom, but about a third have been killed. Many more Iraqis have been abducted, often for ransom.

The news editor of Prima TV, Dan Dumitru, said Ion managed a quick call to her newsroom before disappearing and that he had heard her desperately pleading with her kidnappers.

"I heard Arabic, English and Romanian words shouted," he said. "I heard her imploring the attackers not to kidnap them because they come from a poor country which won't be able to pay the ransom."

Her mother appealed to authorities not to rush into rescue operations before hearing out the abductors.

"Please don't send special troops to look for them," Magdalena Ion said. "We must wait and see what the kidnappers want."

Prime Minister Calin Tariceanu told reporters: "We will make every effort so that the three journalists return home safely."

Journalists at Romania Libera had a difficult time believing their colleague had been kidnapped since there was no demand from the kidnappers.

"We cannot say we are absolutely positive he was kidnapped. We have tried to contact our colleague and we will continue to try," said fellow journalist Cornel Popa.

Source: Agencies