Diplomats under fire in Iraq

2005-07-06 08:16

Baghdad - Bahrain's top diplomat in Iraq was wounded in an ambush and the Pakistani ambassador narrowly escaped assassination, as insurgents targeted Muslim envoys in an apparently new tactic.

Three days after the abduction of Egypt's top envoy, the Iraqi government spokesperson on Tuesday said the attacks were "a message of terror" to dissuade governments from expanding ties with the country.

Pakistan said it was moving its ambassador, Younis Khan, to Amman.

The attack on Khan happened as two cars came up from behind and fired on his vehicle near his residence in the capital's central Mansur district.

"I am safe, but it was a very narrow escape," Khan said. "We sped out of danger but it was an extremely dangerous situation."

UN condemns attacks

Khan said his guards shot one of the attackers.

Also in the Mansur district, gunmen in a pickup truck shot Hassan al-Ansari, the Bahraini charge d'affaires, while he was travelling in his car with diplomatic license plates, an interior ministry source said.

Ansari was treated at Yarmuk hospital and released. Witnesses said he was ambushed by at least eight gunmen after leaving home.

Neither the rich Gulf kingdom of Bahrain nor Pakistan have contributed troops to the United States-led coalition in Iraq, though Bahrain is home to a large US naval base.

Arab League chief Amr Mussa said "security threats to Arab diplomats in Baghdad - whether it be by way of kidnapping as happened to the Egyptian diplomat or by targeting the Bahraini envoy - only serve the interests of those trying to sever links between the Arab world and Iraq."

He called on the abductors of Ihab al-Sharif to release him.

Al-Arabiya television later reported that the group of al-Qaeda's frontman in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, claimed Sharif's abduction but made no demands.

For his part, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan sharply condemned attacks on diplomats in Iraq.

In a statement released by his office, Annan said he was "deeply dismayed" by the recent rash of attacks, which he "vehemently condemns."

"There can be no justification for the targeting of diplomats. As with earlier attacks against the United Nations and other international actors in Iraq, the secretary general hopes these latest attacks will not weaken the resolve of the international community to stand with the Iraqi people at this critical juncture in their history," Annan's office said.

Sharif was set to become the first ambassador from an Arab nation to Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein and was the first head of mission to be abducted since Iraq's hostage crisis began more than 13 months ago.

The Iraqi government's spokesperson said Sharif's security may have been compromised by contacts he may have had with political groups with ties to insurgents.

- AFP