Iraqi kidnapping raids rampant

BAGHDAD, Iraq — "Turn back," a friend told Haji Abu Shamaa as he walked Monday morning toward his money-changing shop in the Karkh neighborhood of central Baghdad, a mile north of the heavily guarded Green Zone. "The Interior Ministry police are rounding up people."

But Shamaa walked on, right into a swift, coordinated operation unfolding within sight of Iraq's Ministry of Justice. Gunmen in police uniforms and ski masks had cordoned off the street and were swiftly shoving captives, four or five at a time, into a dozen waiting pickups. Fifteen minutes later, the trucks were gone, and so were 56 people.

Since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, more than 400 foreigners have been abducted in Iraq, but thousands more Iraqis have been snatched from the streets, often by people wearing knockoff police uniforms that are easily purchased at local markets.

Many people, like Shamaa's friend, believe the kidnappers are actually police. Usually the hostages are held for ransom. Sometimes they are killed because of their faith or ethnicity.

The fate of the 56 people was unknown Monday night. But the scale and audacity of the operation were unusual even for the lawless capital.

The gunmen seized workers from several bus companies that offer transport to Syria and Jordan, witnesses and police said. Others of those taken were passengers aboard the buses: Syrian businessmen going home, a few Palestinians and Iraqis. Many Iraqis are leaving the country because of the raids.

Shamaa said he was intent on returning to his office, to rejoin his son, Alaa, and thought the police wouldn't arrest him. Then he saw a dozen pickups, two of them with machine guns mounted in their beds, and none with license plates.

A man in a camouflage police uniform and a ski mask — an article commonly worn by police in Baghdad — stopped Shamaa, saying he would shoot him if he didn't turn back.

"I haven't done anything," Shamaa recounted explaining to him. "I just want to go to the bank to get some money, and I'll be gone."

The man let him pass. Shamaa went into the bank, and watched the scene unfolding through the window. He said he saw gunmen entering the Mohammed Ugaili Transportation across the street. He saw the owner, Jasim Ugaili, and his son being forced into one of the pickups with the butts of rifles. Shamaa saw his own son, Alaa, with them, his hands tied.

Shamaa rushed outside to save his son. Another man with a rifle blocked his way. "What, do you want to join him?" the man threatened. Shamaa turned back. And the trucks drove off.

Police Col. Adel Younis said guards at the Ministry of Justice shot at the kidnappers but couldn't stop them. Another witness, Hussein Ali, said he had seen a police car drive up to the scene, only to be driven off by gunfire and warnings from the kidnappers that they were from the Interior Ministry's intelligence section.

Raids like this one only increase popular mistrust of the police. Sunni Arabs often accuse the Interior Ministry police, dominated by Shiites, of conducting a terror campaign against them, or at least looking the other way as Shiite militias associated with political parties do so. But police say the attacks are carried out by criminals wearing police uniforms.

The mix of nationalities and sects suggested that the people were taken for ransom.

A group of Shiite students in southern Baghdad, kidnapped in another roundup Monday, did not have the option of paying their way out. Gunmen posing as drivers lined up a set of minibuses as if to offer rides to central Baghdad, a police officer said. Fifteen students got aboard.

The drivers and their accomplices killed them and threw their bodies off the side of a highway.