Kidnapped Italian in phone riddle

A colleague of Giuliana Sgrena, an Italian journalist abducted in Iraq, said she received a second call from Ms Sgrena's mobile phone yesterday.

Barbara Schiavulli, another journalist working in Baghdad, received a 15-second call from her colleague's phone, but heard no voices - only Arab music playing in the background. The first call had been on Friday, apparently while the kidnapping was taking place near Baghdad University.

Ms Sgrena, 56, and her newspaper, Il Manifesto, both hold anti-war views and Ms Schiavulli said that "the hope is that Giuliana has been taken captive by a criminal group looking for a ransom."