Police denies abduction of Iraqi Health Ministry official

Iraqi police source denied that a female undersecretary of Iraqi Health Ministry was kidnapped along with five of her bodyguards on Sunday.

"Gunmen attacked the convoy of Liqaa al-Yassin in southern Baghdad outskirts," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity, adding that she survived abduction, but several of her bodyguards were kidnapped.

Yassin is a member of parliament from the dominant Shiite United Iraqi Alliance and a hospital director in the holy city of Najaf, some 160 km south of Baghdad.

Earlier, an Interior Ministry source said that gunmen kidnapped Dr. Liqaa and five of her bodyguards in Baghdad's Doura district.

Meanwhile, Iraqi Ministry of Mineral and Industry refused to confirm that the ministry's undersecretary was snatched from the ministry by gunmen on Sunday morning as revealed by an Interior Ministry source.

On Saturday morning unknown gunmen kidnapped a female Sunni Arab lawmaker, Taiseer Najah al-Mashhadani, along with seven of her bodyguards while travelling in a Shiite neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad.

The incident prompted the Sunni Arab bloc in the Iraqi parliament to decide on Sunday not to attend parliament sessions until their kidnapped colleague is released.

"We in the Iraqi Consensus Front have decided to suspend our participation in parliament meetings until our sister is released, " said Adnan al-Dulaimi, the head of the umbrella group.

Dulaimi held the Iraqi security forces responsible for the abduction.

The Sunni Arab bloc holds 44 seats in the 275-seat parliament.

Source: Xinhua