Iraqi TV presenter kidnapped
2005-02-21 20:48
Baghdad - Gunmen in Iraq abducted a female Iraqi television presenter in the northern city of Mosul, an official from her local television network said on Monday.
Raiedah Mohammed Wageh Wazan was abducted by several masked gunmen on Sunday night while she was returning to her house in Mosul's al-Shahwan neighbourhood, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The US military said insurgents targeted the TV station "several times in the past week because they have been broadcasting programmes that highlighted the negative effects of insurgent activity".
"Those programmes have had rapidly growing support from Iraqi citizens and therefore have caused the station to be targeted."
The US announcement added that "insurgents contacted the station and threatened to continue to target employees".
On Wednesday, half-a-dozen mortar rounds were fired at the Mosul TV station, wounding three technicians working there.
An Arabic-language internet bulletin board carried a statement from al-Qaeda's Iraq affiliate claiming responsibility for the mortar strike, but there was no way to verify the veracity of the claim.
- SAPA