The al-Qaeda network in Iraq declared on Thursday that it had sentenced to death two Moroccan embassy employees who were kidnapped by the group last month, according to a statement posted on the Internet.

"According to God's law, the al-Qaeda court has sentenced the two infidels to death," said the statement.

It added that the capital penalty was meant to punish the Moroccan government for supporting the new Iraqi government backed by the United States.

The statement was posted on an Internet web site frequently used by the al-Qaeda group, but its authenticity cannot be confirmed.

The Moroccan Foreign Ministry described the statement allegedly from al-Qaeda as "brutal", saying the execution of the Moroccans would run counter to the Islamic principles and basic human rights.

In another statement on Tuesday, the group declared that it had put the two Moroccan hostages on trial.

Copies of the hostages' passports and identification cards were attached to the statement.

Abderahim Boualam, a driver of the Moroccan embassy in Iraq, and assistant Abdelkrem El Mouhafidim were kidnapped on their way from the Jordanian capital Amman to Baghdad on Oct. 20.

The al-Qaeda network has masterminded and carried out some of the most gruesome kidnappings and killings in Iraq.

Its leader in Iraq, Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, has been the most wanted man in the war-torn country, with a 25 million US dollar bounty put by Washington on his head.

Source: Xinhua