Rome, Sept 23, SPA -- Italy's Foreign Ministry said Thursday it was "verifying the authenticity" of a new message claiming that two Italian women held hostage in Iraq have been killed. The message, the second to be posted on the Internet in the space of 24 hours, was signed by Ansar al-Zawahari (The followers of Zawahari). The same group had previously claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the two women, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta. On Wednesday, a group calling itself the Islamic Jihad Organization said it had killed the hostages. Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, two employees for a private aid organization called "A bridge to. ..", were abducted from their office in Baghdad along with two Iraqi nationals, on September 7. -- SPA 1318 Local Time 1018 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/204270