Kidnappings alarm Baghdad diplomatic and business communities

By HANNAH ALLAM
Knight Ridder Newspapers

E-mail this article Print this article Search archive Most read articles Most e-mailed articles

Related stories Saddam spends prison time tending garden, writing poetry Iraqi reality show repairs war damage Attack kills key official, bodyguards

Insurgents yesterday kidnapped two Jordanian drivers, the latest in a string of kidnappings, the most brazen of which was the daylight seizure of a heavily guarded Egyptian diplomat on Friday. He was released unharmed yesterday.

The latest hostage-takers, an Islamic militant group calling itself the Mujahedeen Corps, repeated now-familiar conditions for the release of the Jordanians: Their employer must cease work in Iraq or the men would be dead within 72 hours, according to a video shown on Arabic-language satellite television. Similar demands were made for many of the other 13 hostages grabbed by guerrillas in the past week.

The kidnapping epidemic underscores the inability of Iraqi and U.S. security forces to rein in an increasingly sophisticated insurgency that's turned to hostage-taking as a high-profile way of spreading its views.

Allawi has beseeched nations not to bow to kidnappers' demands and was furious with the Philippines for its decision last week to withdraw its tiny peacekeeping force from Iraq to spare the life of a captive Filipino civilian.

Citizens from at least 20 nations have fallen prey to kidnappers in recent months. Nearly 70 people have been seized and at least four were beheaded.

The abduction of Mohammed Mamdouh Helmi Qutb, the No. 3 official in the Egyptian Embassy, moved the hostage crisis to a new level. He was snatched as he left a mosque in Baghdad; his captors said he was targeted because Egypt agreed to send security experts to aid the new Iraqi government.

He was released late yesterday, apparently after the captors realized Egypt wasn't sending troops to Iraq. Shortly before he was released, the Arabic-language satellite news channel Al-Jazeera read a statement from the militants saying they had decided to release Qutb because he was a religious man and had good morals.

But foreign envoys were clearly shaken by the kidnapping. Even though their stately embassies are protected by massive concrete walls in upscale neighborhoods, diplomats were hesitant even to respond to reporters' questions. More armed guards and armored vehicles were visible yesterday. There was no sign of consular staff.

The Egyptian, Syrian, Jordanian and United Arab Emirates embassies were shuttered. A Vietnamese Embassy spokesman grimaced when asked about the hostage crisis and quickly showed journalists the door. A Pakistani envoy was first willing to address the hostage situation, but declined five minutes later after consulting with senior embassy officials. An Iraqi worker at the Hungarian mission said the staff must first "study" media requests.

At the German Embassy, no Germans were available for comment. An Iraqi guard, who was relaying media requests by radio to the embassy staff behind locked doors, was more than happy to offer his observations.

"They are now terrified," said the guard, who identified himself only as Raed. "They receive no guests, not even journalists. They've started to suspect everybody. Their movements are restricted to a minimum."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

E-mail this article

Print this article

Search archive

More nation & world headlines...