Members of the Iraqi insurgency began taking foreign hostages in Iraq beginning in April 2004. Since then, in a dramatic instance of Islamist kidnapping they have taken captive more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis; among them, dozens of hostages were killed and others rescued or freed. In 2004, executions of captives were often filmed, and many were beheaded. However, the number of the recorded killings decreased significantly. Many hostages remain missing with no clue as to their whereabouts. The United States Department of State Hostage Working Group was organized by the U.S. Embassy, Baghdad, in the summer of 2004 to monitor foreign hostages in Iraq. The motives for these kidnappings include: influencing foreign governments with troops in Iraq to withdraw influencing foreign companies with workers in Iraq to leave the country ransom money discouraging travel to Iraq prisoner exchange The following is a list of known civilian foreign hostages in Iraq. Coalition Australia 2 released/rescued John Martinkus, a journalist for SBS Television, was kidnapped on October 16, 2004. He was released on October 18, 2004, after his captors used Google to verify his status as a journalist. Douglas Wood, construction engineer was kidnapped along with two Iraqi business associates on April 30, 2005. The two associates were later killed. Wood was rescued on June 15, 2005 in a raid carried out by the Iraqi Army. Bulgaria 2 killed Georgi Lazov and Ivailo Kepov, two truck drivers, were seized on June 29, 2004, near Mosul. Lazov's beheaded body was found on July 14, 2004; Kepov's on July 22, 2004. Czech Republic 3 released Reporter Michal Kubal and cameraman Petr Klíma, of Czech television and Vít Pohanka from Czech Radio were kidnapped on April 11, 2004. They were freed April 16, 2004. Denmark 1 killed Henrik Frandsen was abducted on April 11, 2004, while working on a sewage project, and found dead the next day. Italy 4 killed Fabrizio Quattrocchi, a security guard captured with three others, was reported killed in a video released on April 14, 2004. Enzo Baldoni, a reporter taken hostage in August and shown being killed in a video released on August 26, 2004. His Iraqi driver-translator was killed during the abduction. Salvatore Santoro, a photojournalist, reported kidnapped and killed on December 16, 2004. Iyad Anwar Wali, an Italian-Iraqi businessman, was reported killed on October 2, 2004. 6 released Umberto Cupertino, Maurizio Agliana and Salvatore Stefio