American kidnapped in Iraq
2005-04-11 22:49
Baghdad - An American contractor was kidnapped in the Baghdad area on Monday.
A US Embassy spokesperson said the contractor, who had been working on a reconstruction project, had been abducted about noon.
He refused to give more details, but said the contractor's family had been informed.
Kidnappings have become commonplace across Iraq, with foreigners targeted by terror groups seeking both political and financial gains.
The last US contractor to be kidnapped was Roy Hallums, a 56-year-old snatched on November 1 while working for a Saudi company that does catering for the US army. <>He is still being held, according to a video released in late January.
It was unclear how the latest contractor was abducted. Many foreigners now travel in Iraq under heavy security and with armed guards.
Also on Monday, hundreds of US and Iraqi forces launched their biggest Baghdad raid in recent weeks, moving on foot through a central neighbourhood and rounding up dozens of suspected insurgents, the military said.
Arrest
In a small victory against the wave of kidnappings, a defence ministry official said on Monday that Iraqi security forces had arrested a person who claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of two French journalists abducted and later released in Iraq.
Iraqi army soldiers detained Amer Hussein Sheikhan in the Mahmoudiya area on April 4, the official said on customary condition of anonymity.
No other details were available.
Journalists Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot were released in December after four months in captivity.
Meanwhile, a group claiming to have kidnapped a Pakistani official in Iraq has demanded money for his release, a senior Pakistani government official said without giving his name.
Malik Mohammed Javed went missing late on Saturday after leaving home for prayers at a nearby mosque.
- AP