Head of Iraq’s Olympic Committee Kidnapped

BAGHDAD, Iraq – Gunmen kidnapped the head of Iraq’s Olympic committee and at least 30 employees after storming their offices in Baghdad on Saturday, police said.

The gunmen were riding in three government vehicles and wearing police uniforms when they broke into a cultural center in central Baghdad, police Lt. Thair Mahmoud said.

Mahmoud said Ahmed al-Hijiya, president of the committee, was taken around 1:30 p.m. along with other employees as they attended a conference in the neighborhood of Karradah.