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Iraq kidnappings go on

Posted on: Tuesday, 29 November 2005, 12:13 CST

By Paul Tait and Michael Georgy

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Four Iranian pilgrims and a German woman were missing in Iraq on Tuesday after being seized by gunmen, in an apparent return to the dire security conditions foreigners faced from hostage-takers in the country last year.

The abductions follow the seizure of four aid workers -- two Canadians, a Briton and an American -- who were snatched in west Baghdad on Saturday, and come despite an Iraqi official's prediction that U.S. troops may soon start to withdraw.

The six Iranians -- four men and two women -- were taken on Monday with an Iraqi woman as they were returning from a visit to a Shi'ite holy site, Iraqi police said. The three women were later released, but it was not clear under what circumstances.

With elections looming on December 15 as a landmark along the road to the withdrawal of foreign troops, Iraq's national security adviser said up to 30,000 of the 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq could quit the country in early 2006 as the performance of local security forces improved.

Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said a recent fall in guerrilla attacks marked "the beginning of the end of the insurgency."

"We have tipped the balance now to our favor and the momentum is only going to get better," Rubaie told Reuters in an interview when asked about American troop withdrawals.

His remarks appeared to contradict assessments by U.S. generals who say very few Iraqi units are ready to fight alone.

PILGRIMAGE TO SHRINE

The Iranian group was abducted as they made a pilgrimage to a Shi'ite shrine in the city of Balad, a mixed Shi'ite and Sunni Arab town about 80 km (50 miles) north of the capital, Baghdad.

Gunmen opened fire on a bus carrying the pilgrims, seriously wounding the driver, police said. The driver, Hameed Hashim, told Reuters he was beaten by around six gunmen.

It was the second attack on religious pilgrims in a day. Three British Muslims were killed when their minibus was fired on by gunmen in Baghdad as it was returning from Kerbala, a holy city to the south. Two others escaped with injuries.

In a videotape broadcast on Tuesday, unidentified kidnappers threatened to kill German archaeologist Susanne Osthoff, who has been missing since Friday, unless Berlin stopped cooperating with Iraq's U.S.-backed government, Germany's ARD TV reported.

Extracts from the tape showed three armed, masked figures surrounding two blindfolded people sitting on the ground.

Germany's government said it had set up a crisis unit and was working to secure her release.

There had been a lull in the kidnapping of Westerners in Iraq, with the most recent case before this week being the abduction of Irish journalist Rory Carroll in Baghdad last month. Carroll was released unharmed after 36 hours.

More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped since the U.S-led invasion in 2003. Around 50 have been executed since 2004.

Thousands of Iraqis have also been kidnapped over the same period, either for ransom or for political motives as Sunni Arabs and foreign fighters lead a bloody insurgency against the Shi'ite- and Kurdish-led government.

AID WORKERS SNATCHED

U.S., British and Canadian authorities are also seeking their missing nationals, who were working for peace and humanitarian group Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), one of the few remaining aid groups operating in Iraq.

Britain's Foreign Office has identified the Briton as Norman Kember, 74, a retired professor.

"The names of the other hostages are being withheld in the interest of their security," CPT said in a statement.

Police said two prominent Iraqis had also been kidnapped. Saad Albana, a senior official in the Housing and Reconstruction Ministry, was abducted from his Baghdad home on Monday.

Gunmen also abducted Thafer Migwil Hazza, a relative of deposed leader Saddam Hussein and a former Iraqi army officer, from his house in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, police said.

Political slayings are also on the rise ahead of the poll.

Bashar Shnawa Gaber, a senior member of the Shi'ite Dawa party, was shot dead in Baghdad on Monday, a Dawa party spokesman said on Tuesday. Jaafari's Dawa party forms part of the ruling United Iraqi Alliance.

Sunni Arab politicians Iyad Alizi and Ali Hussein and a bodyguard were shot dead as they drove in Baghdad on Monday.

On Tuesday, two members of the Christian Assyrian Democratic Movement were shot and killed and another two were wounded by gunmen as they put up election campaign posters in the northeastern city of Mosul.

The shootings, all apparently politically motivated, will likely provoke further sectarian anger.

Two U.S. soldiers were killed on Tuesday when their patrol hit a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said, taking the toll of American troops killed in Iraq to 2,110.

(With additional reporting by Paul Hughes in Tehran and Ahmed Rasheed, Deepa Babington and Luke Baker in Baghdad)

Source: REUTERS

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