New Egyptian ambassador to Iraq kidnapped

Some Iraqi policemen guard outside the building of Egyptian Embassy in Baghdad July 3, 2005. The new Egyptian ambassador to Iraq Ihab al-Sharif, the first ambassador to post-war Iraq, was kidnapped in western Baghdad on the evening of July 2.

The new Egyptian ambassador to Iraq has been kidnapped in western Baghdad, the Qatar-based al-Jazeera TV channel reported on Sunday.

Ihab al-Sharif, named as the first ambassador to post-war Iraq on June 1, was kidnapped late Saturday, the channel said.

An Egyptian diplomat was kidnapped at about 7:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) on Saturday when a group of militant forced him to get on their car and ran away near the Egyptian consulate in al-Rabie Street in western Baghdad, a witness told Xinhua.

The car was left in the street before Egyptian diplomats came to take it on Sunday.

Source: Xinhua