Macedonian officials say Islamic militants in Iraq have killed all three of the country's contractors they took hostage in August.
A Foreign Ministry spokesman says a government delegation that went to Qatar earlier this week reached that conclusion after viewing a tape broadcast Monday by the Arabic al-Jazeera television network. He says the team confirmed the identities of the victims.
Al-Jazeera says a group calling itself the Islamic Army in Iraq sent the video to the television network and accused the hostages of spying for the United States.
The three men had gone to Iraq to work for a U.S. construction company. Officials say the 19 other Macedonians who worked for the firm have begun to leave Iraq.
Some information for this story provided by AP and AFP.