Gunmen kidnap Iraqi senior official in Baghdad

Gunmen kidnapped an Iraqi senior official and his son in northern Baghdad on Monday, an Interior Ministry source said.

"Unidentified gunmen riding three cars kidnapped Saad Majid Ali, director general in the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, and his son at around 3:00 p.m. (1100 GMT) in Waziyriah neighborhood," the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Ali was driving his car with his son when the attack occurred, the source added.

Earlier in the day, a roadside bomb went off in Baghdad's southern neighborhood of Zaafaraniyah near a minibus carrying casual workers, killing one of them and wounding 12 others, the source said.

Violence griped the Iraq capital despite more than three months of a U.S.-led security crackdown, which has not achieved substantial progress in reducing violence in Iraq.

Source: Xinhua