UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned the killing of the Egyptian diplomat in Iraq, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday.

In a statement released by the spokesman, Annan said he has learned with great sadness of the brutal murder of Ihab al-Sherif, the charge d'affaires of the Arab Republic of Egypt to Iraq, who was kidnapped on Saturday.

He expressed his deepest sympathy and condolences to the family of al-Sherif as well as to the government and people of the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The Secretary-General condemned in the strongest terms those who planned and executed this callous act, which no cause can justify. He hopes that the Iraqi authorities will do everything possible to apprehend those responsible and to bring them to justice.

Such acts perpetrated by a few will not deter the commitment and resolve of the United Nations and the international community to help the Iraqi people in their transition towards a peaceful, democratic and prosperous Iraq, Annan stressed.

Iraq's al-Qaida group killed Sharif on Thursday, four days after he was kidnapped by the group in Baghdad, according to a videotape posted on an Islamic website.

Source: Xinhua