An Egyptian envoy expected to become Iraq’s first Arabambassador since its new government took office was kidnapped in Baghdad, weeks afterarriving in the country, diplomats said Sunday.
Witnesses said gunmen accosted Ihab al-Sherif as he stoppedto buy a newspaper late Saturday, pistol-whipped him and accused him of beingan “American spy.” The kidnapping could undermine U.S.-backed effortsto encourage Iraq’s Arabneighbors to send high ranking diplomats to Baghdad.
The abduction occurred hours before U.S. Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales paid a heavily guarded surprise visit to Iraq. Gonzalespraised Iraqi’s commitment to democracy in the face of sustained deadly attacksby insurgents.
In violence Sunday, a car bomb killed three Iraqi policemennorth of Baghdad, while two U.S. soldiers were wounded in a suicide attacknear a checkpoint in the volatile western city of Ramadi.
Also in Ramadi, a U.S.military helicopter caught fire Saturday night, destroying $13.5 million CH-47Chinook and injuring one crewman, the U.S. military said Sunday. Nofurther details were released pending an investigation.
Two Egyptian diplomats, speaking in Cairoand Baghdad oncondition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue, said al-Sherif,was kidnapped late Saturday in the Iraqi capital. Al-Sherif, 51, has been in Iraq since June1.
Last month, the Egyptian government said it would upgradeits mission in Iraq to full embassy status headed by an ambassador, which wouldhave made al-Sherif the first Arab ambassador to Iraq’s new government althoughthe timing of the move was uncertain.
In a message relayed by a deputy, Foreign Minister AhmedAboul Gheit said al-Sherif was “Egypt’s representative to the wholeIraqi people and that his legal status is the chief of the diplomatic missionand not ambassador.”
Egyptian deputy foreign minister Hani Khallaf also said hehoped the kidnappers would appreciate that al-Sherif had gone “to servethe interests of the Iraqi people and we expect them to deal with him in a waycompatible with his national, pan-Arab and humanitarian mission.”
“If the kidnappers want to send a certain message, thenal-Sherif is the most trusted one to bring it to Egypt,” he told reporters.
The posting of more senior diplomats to Iraq is seen asa key step to restoring confidence in the country’s transitional government,which is struggling to control a raging insurgency believed to be led by SunniArabs.
A leading Sunni organization called for al-Sherif’simmediate release. The Iraqi Islamic Party strongly condemned the abduction anddemanded al-Sherif’s release “without delay.”
Egyptian diplomats gave no details of the kidnapping.
However, three Iraqis who claimed they witnessed the attacksaid al-Sherif was driving alone in a vehicle with diplomatic license plateswhen he stopped to buy a newspaper from a store on the Rabie Street in Baghdad’s western al-Jamaa neighborhood.
About eight gunmen surrounded him, the witnesses said oncondition of anonymity because they feared reprisals. One of the gunmen struckthe diplomat on the head with a pistol butt as others shouted that he was”an American spy,” the witnesses said.
They shoved him into the trunk of a car and sped away.Bystanders reported the incident to a passing American convoy and said U.S. soldierssearched al-Sherif’s car, which was removed Sunday.
Al-Sherif was the second Egyptian diplomat to have beenkidnapped in Iraqsince the U.S.-led invasion toppled
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Saddam Hussein’s regime in 2003.Mohammed Mamdouh Helmi Qutb, then Egypt’sthird-ranking diplomat, was seized June 23, 2004, by Islamic militants whoclaimed they wanted to deter Egyptfrom deploying troops in Iraq.
He was freed a month later after Egyptreaffirmed it had no intention of sending soldiers to Iraq.
The latest abduction occurred as the government of PrimeMinister Ibrahim al-Jaafari struggles to curb mounting attacks blamed largelyon Sunni Arab insurgents and find a formula for including the influentialreligious minority in the rebuilding of the country.
More than 1,400 people have been killed since al-Jaafariannounced his new government April 28.
On Sunday, a car bomb exploded hit an Iraqi police patrolnear the northern city of Kirkuk,killing three policemen and wounding one civilian, army Maj. Gen. AnwarMohammed Amin said.
In Baghdad,gunmen fired on a car carrying police Brig. Gen. Abdul Hussein Hamid Khalaf,wounding him and killing his son, police said.
Two U.S.soldiers also were wounded and a suicide attacker died in an explosion Sundaynear a checkpoint in Ramadi, a Marine spokesman said.
The fresh attacks occurred a day after suicide bombersstruck in Baghdadand a Shiite city south of the capital, killing 27 people and injuring nearly50.
In the first attack, a bomber with explosives strapped tohis body blew himself up outside a recruiting station for police special forcesin western Baghdad,killing at least 16 other people and wounding 22.
In Hillah, a mostly Shiite city 60 miles south of Baghdad, two suicideattackers struck Saturday night. The death count increased to nine, includingfive policemen, and 33 wounded, police said Sunday.
A Web statement in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the Baghdad and Hillahbombings, although its authenticity could not be confirmed.
In other violence:
_Industry Minister Osama Abdul Aziz Najafi escaped anassassination attempt Saturday night when gunmen fired on his convoy in westernBaghdad, butfour bodyguards were wounded.
_Gunmen killed Shiite cleric Adil al-Janabi and one of hisbodyguards in a drive-by shooting Saturday night in the capital, police said.