Iraq hostage crisis escalates
2004-09-16 16:50
Baghdad - Two Americans and a Briton were kidnapped at gunpoint from their smart Baghdad home on Thursday, as the two main powers behind last year's controversial invasion became the latest victims in a five-month hostage crisis.
The new abductions came against the backdrop of fresh UN criticism of the US-led intervention, with Secretary General Kofi Annan flatly describing the invasion as "illegal" for the first time in 17 months.
The US embassy identified its two snatched citizens as Jack Hensley and Eugene "Jack" Armstrong, confirming they were abducted by armed men along with a British subject.
Interior ministry spokesperson Adnan Abdul Rahman said the three hostages worked for a Gulf-based private equipment firm.
Armed men drove up in a minibus around dawn and burst into the trio's home in the upmarket Mansur neighbourhood of the capital.
The abduction bore the hallmarks of the way two Italian women aid workers and two Iraqi colleagues were snatched at gunpoint from inside their house in a quiet residential area of Baghdad earlier this month.
It was likely to further deplete an already dwindling expatriate community whose know-how is seen as essential to plans to revive the war-shattered economy and build a new Iraq.
Two French journalists kidnapped nearly a month ago were still being held by a Sunni Arab militant group despite relentless efforts by Paris to secure their release.
More than 100 foreigners are thought to have been abducted in Iraq since April and more than 20 murdered, in a new insurgent tactic alongside their longstanding diet of mortar and rocket-propelled grenade attacks and roadside bombings.
The surge of violence coincided with the publication by the New York Times of extracts from a US intelligence report painting a bleak picture of Iraq's future.
Without providing any specific details of the 50-page report prepared by the national intelligence council, one official who had read it said it contained "a significant amount of pessimism".
In another blow to the US administration, Annan gave an interview to the BBC in which he described last year's invasion as "illegal".
"I've indicated that it was not in conformity with the UN charter from our point of view, and from the charter point of view it was illegal," he said.
Annan also said it was unlikely Iraq would be able to hold "credible elections" as planned in January 2005 "if the security conditions continue as they are now."
Interim President Ghawi al-Yawar insisted it was "premature" to talk about delaying the polls despite the surging violence.