Iraq’s Qaeda says it kidnapped Egypt envoy-Web

DUBAI (Reuters) – Iraq’s al Qaeda wing said on Tuesday ithad kidnapped Egypt’s top envoy to Iraq, according to anInternet statement.

“The Egyptian ambassador has been kidnapped by ourmujahideen and he is now under the control of our mujahideen,”said the statement signed by Al Qaeda Organization for Holy Warin Iraq.

The group said it would issue more details later. Thestatement could not be immediately authenticated.

Arabic channel Al Jazeera said its Cairo correspondentlearned that “contacts between Egyptian and Iraqi authoritiesconfirmed” that Ihab el-Sherif was well and has not beenharmed.

Sherif, who was expected to become the first Arabambassador in Baghdad since the fall of Saddam Hussein, wassnatched by gunmen off a Baghdad street late on Saturday.

Diplomats have speculated that Sherif was kidnapped byinsurgents to send a political message to Arab countries not todeepen their ties to the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad.