Gunmen in Iraq army uniforms seize Iranian diplomat
Last Updated: Tuesday, February 6, 2007 | 7:55 AM ET
CBC News
Thirty armed men dressed as Iraqi soldiers kidnapped a senior Iranian diplomat on the streets of Baghdad, an Iraqi government official said on Tuesday.
The gunmen, who reportedly wore Iraqi army uniforms, snatched the Iranian embassy official on Sunday night while he was driving through Baghdad's central Karrada district.
The Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini as saying the Defence Ministry was ordered to detain Jalal Sharaki, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy.
"Iran holds American forces in Iraq responsible for the safety and life of the Iranian diplomat," Hosseini was quoted as saying, in his condemnation of the "aggressive act."
One Iraqi government official backed those statements, telling the Associated Press the diplomat was seized by a special Iraqi army unit that reports directly to the U.S. military.
But a military spokesman denied any U.S. troops or Iraqis could have been involved.
"We've checked with our units and it was not an MNF-I (Multi-National Forces-Iraq) unit that participated in that event," U.S. military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said.
An Iraqi official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said two vehicles intercepted the diplomat's car at 6 p.m., then sped away with him.
Iraqi police also opened fire on one of the cars and attempted to arrest the captors, believing they were witnessing an illegal kidnapping in public, according to the official. Several of the detained men were released Monday after members from their unit flashed their official badges and requested the men be transferred to another police station, he said.
U.S. embassy spokesman Lou Fintor said he could not confirm the reports because of conflicting accounts.
An official with the Iranian embassy in Baghdad said the diplomat was en route to survey the site of a new Iranian bank in central Baghdad when he was taken hostage by men wearing Iraqi army uniforms.
Tensions have been rising between Iran and the U.S., most recently over U.S.-led efforts to punish Iran for ignoring Western demands to scrap its suspected nuclear weapons program. Iran has insisted it only wants to enrich uranium to harness nuclear power, not manufacture warheads.
