"Our convoy was made up of 17 trucks driven by Syrians and Jordanians. It was transporting household appliances from Dubai when it was intercepted Tuesday by armed men near the Abu Ghraib prison" west of Baghdad, Jordanian trucker Mustapha Abdelkarim al-Ayed told a newspaper here.

In addition to the four Jordanians, "the group also abducted two Syrian truck drivers," he said, without elaborating.

In a videotape aired by Dubai Television, an Islamist group said Thursday it was holding four Jordanians and called on the people of the kingdom to pressure their government to end its support for the US-led forces in the country.

Ayed, 39, who managed to escape the attack because he was at the head of the convoy, identified two of the Jordanians as Mohammad Khleifat and Mohammad Abu Jaafar.

He said the convoy was not carrying any goods destined for the US army.

Two other Jordanian drivers were kidnapped Monday and reportedly threatened with death unless their employer stopped work in the country within 72 hours.

Their employer, Daoud and Partners, which provides food supplies to US troops in Iraq, announced Tuesday that it would cease operations in Iraq to obtain its drivers' release, which has yet to occur.

A Jordanian businessman, Wael Mamduh, was abducted from a hotel in the southern city of Basra on April 11 by men disguised in police uniforms.

Meanwhile, militants in Iraq threatened to behead an Indian hostage unless his Kuwaiti firm quits the country, according to a statement from the "Islamic Secret Army" received by AFP on Thursday.

"We will slit the throat of one of the (Indian) hostages on Friday at 7:00 pm (1500 GMT) if our demands are not met," it said.

The authenticity of the statement could not independently verified and Indian ambassador to Iraq, Brij Moham Tyagi, told AFP that the embassy "has been assured that its citizens being held in Iraq are safe and in good health".

The group accused the Indian government of losing its "credibility" and "deviating from (independence champion Mohandas) Gandhi's path of peace", branding the hostages "fighters supporting the infidel occupation".

Earlier this week, the kidnappers stayed a threatened deadline to start executing its hostages from 1600 GMT Monday.

"The leadership of the Islamic Secret Army, of which the Holders of the Black Banners is a division, has decided to extend the deadline," said a statement read out on a video clip broadcast by Al-Arabiya television.

It said Sheikh Hisham al-Dulaimi had been appointed as a go-between by the militants in a bid to win the men's release.