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News and Information
Three foreigners seized in Iraq
| September 16, 2004 |
A Briton and two US nationals working in Iraq have been abducted in Baghdad.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry said gunmen seized the men at dawn from a house in the capital's Mansour neighbourhood.
US and British embassy officials confirmed the kidnappings of the men, workers for a building contracting firm based in the United Arab Emirates.
Shortly after the abductions, a loud blast hit a residential area in central Baghdad. At least one person was killed and several were injured, police said.
At least 47 people were killed on Tuesday when a car bomb exploded close to an Iraqi police station in central Baghdad.
'Car missing'
The US embassy in Iraq named the two kidnapped Americans as Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong but did not give their home towns.
KIDNAP FACTS
More than 100 foreigners seized (including two Italian aid workers, pictured)
19 being held
25 killed, including (12 Nepalese)
At least 3 Americans seized: Nick Berg - civilian - beheaded; Keith Maupin - soldier - killed (unconfirmed); Thomas Hamill -civilian - escaped
One Briton kidnapped: James Brandon - journalist - released
Hostage facts
Iraq's hostage-takers
The British embassy said no details on the kidnapped Briton would be released until his family had been informed.
Iraqi interior ministry spokesman Colonel Adnan Abdul Rahman said: "Two Americans and a British civilian were kidnapped from their house in the Mansour district in Baghdad this morning around 0600 (0200 GMT)."
He told the Associated Press news agency they were employed by Gulf Services Company, a Middle East-based construction firm.
He said the men had been bundled into a minivan and driven off. A car was missing from the house where the men were reportedly taken.
There was no fighting as the hostages were taken.
The Mansour district is a wealthy residential area on the river Tigris, where many multinational companies have their headquarters.
Many foreign businessmen and contractors live there if they are not staying in the heavily defended Green Zone.
Fighters waging a 17-month insurgency in Iraq have kidnapped more than 100 foreigners in a bid to destabilise the interim government and drive foreign troops from the country.
Hostage freed
But kidnappers released a Jordanian hostage on Thursday, an official from Jordan's foreign ministry said. The man, a lorry driver, was freed after his company agreed to pull out of Iraq.
There has been a spate of deadly attacks in recent days
The official Petra news agency quoted an official as saying Turki Simer Khalifeh al-Breizat, 54, was freed and taken to the Jordanian Embassy in Baghdad.
But the latest kidnappings brings the number currently being held to 19.
It follows the abduction of two female Italian aid workers last week, and two French journalists on 20 August.
Many aid workers and other expatriate civilians pulled out of Iraq after the Italians were seized.
Those who remain here do not move about the capital or other parts of the country without careful precaution, says the BBC's Mike Donkin in Baghdad.
Targets
Militants who have seized foreigners have usually demanded the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq.
Britain was the main supporter of last year's US-led invasion of the country.
It is the second largest troop contributor with more than 8,000 soldiers deployed in the south.
Many civilians from many nationalities have been seized - most have been freed after successful mediation efforts.
Militants usually demand the withdrawal of foreign troops
But many others have been killed - 12 Nepali cleaners and cooks, a Turkish laundry worker, a South Korean translator, an American businessman, two Pakistanis, two Bulgarian truck drivers and an Italian journalist.
The BBC's Middle East analyst Roger Hardy says a number of groups with a variety of agendas are involved.
Some of those kidnapped come from countries which have troops in Iraq, but others do not.
The kidnappers say that anyone helping the Americans is a legitimate target.
Meanwhile, virtually unreported by the international media, the kidnapping of Iraqis for ransom has become commonplace, particularly in Baghdad.
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Source: BBCNEWS |
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