Iranian diplomat kidnapped

The second secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad was kidnapped Sunday by gunmen. Iraqi government official said that soldiers, wearing uniforms of the 36th Iraqi Commando Battalion , abducted the diplomat, placed him in one of their vehicles, and sped away. Iraqi police, suspecting that a kidnapping was taking place, opened fire on a second vehicle and arrested two men. But the vehicle carrying the diplomat was not caught, and he apparently remains in the kidnappers hands. The men who were arrested were released Monday into the custody of members of a unit showing official badges and saying they needed to transfer the suspects to another police station. (But these detainees were never heard from again -- needs to be confirmed)

The spin from Tehran is that the diplomat was abducted by Iraqi commandos who were part of a unit that reports directly to the U.S. However a US military spokesman said "We condemn kidnappings in all forms here in Iraq. This specific event we don

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Seth says

M 2007-02-06 09:46:21 5984

So ?

This is a digest of the salient facts of the story without spin. It is the result of me reading about a dozen articles. The item begs the question of whether my summary paragraphs above accurately report the salient facts. This story, may, or may not end up being important.

Seth says

M 2007-02-06 10:09:27 5984

O - I read it this AM and filed it under nothing unusual ... kidnappings have been happening all over the place for the US & others trying to rebuild Iraq's infrastructure, it's about time the Iranians got some!

it's unusual because it comes at a time when US/Iranian tensions are growing. Also the Iranian claim that the US was involved in the abduction, while almost certainly untrue, is none the less troubeling. This item is to track the story especially should it become more important than it at first seems. Also the circumstances under which some of the abductors were released is suspicious and i would like to know more about that aspect. Some Iraqi officials expect that ransom demands will surface shortly ... but will they? Sure, kidnapping happen all the time in Iraq, but this is the first time that we have seen the kidnappers masquerading as Iraqi soldiers with official identification papers. In summary this is just an interesting story that i intend to track.

Seth says

M 2007-02-06 14:43:11 5984

It would be interesting to know if this person had a name & if that name is cross-referenced with Homeland Security in an interesting way.

His name, according to Teharan is "Jalal Sharafi". He is the second Secretary of Iran's embassy in Baghdad. I'm sure that the CIA has a dossier on him.

Iranian diplomat kidnapped

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