US troops search Baghdad houses as fears grow for abducted Britons
US soldiers raided houses across Baghdad yesterday as part of an operation to find five kidnapped Britons, as witnesses revealed how the abductors had tricked their way into a government office and bluffed guards into laying down their weapons.
So well planned was the midday raid that not a single shot was fired, but at least one Western computer expert managed to escape.
No word has been heard from the gang more than 24 hours after it seized the computer analyst and four security guards, but Iraqi government officials pointed the finger at the Mahdi Army – the militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia cleric.
Militia members, however, rejected the allegation, saying that they thought a Sunni gang linked to al-Qaeda was behind the kidnappings. US and other Western officials speculated that a smaller group or even a criminal network may have been involved.
With reinforcements coming in to help and much confusion remaining, British officials in Baghdad gave warning that the crisis could take a long time to resolve. “We are here for the long haul. Twenty-four hours have passed and we have heard nothing in the way of demands being made,” a British official said. Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s National Security Advisor, told The Times that he had alerted Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, as well as the Interior Ministry and Defence Ministry to make resolving the kidnappings a top priority.
“We are working closely with the coalition to track down the kidnappers. I have been liaising with the UK Embassy in Baghdad to coordinate our effort,” Dr al-Rubaie said.
At the Finance Ministry building in east Baghdad, where the abductions took place, the doors were locked and the offices closed. Guards outside told The Times that 16 of their colleagues had been hauled off by the Interior Ministry to be questioned about what happened.
One guard said the abducted Britons visited the computer science block facility daily.
After they arrived on Tuesday, however, 20 cars that looked like they were from the Interior Ministry drove up to the two-storey block and sealed off the surrounding roads, he said. Three men in suits flashed official badges to the guards outside and told them to stand back because they were on official business for the Integrity Commission.
Scores of armed men in commando uniform then entered the compound, which is surrounded by concrete blast walls. They walked straight up to the British security guards, who were sitting in two saloon cars parked outside, and asked them to get out and leave behind their weapons. The gang also ordered the Finance Ministry guards to lower their weapons, witnesses said.
At the same time, gunmen entered the building and snatched the computer expert. A second Western lecturer, whose nationality was not known, escaped abduction because he was hidden in a side room or cupboard, Iraqi and British officials said.
An Interior Ministry spokesman dismissed suggestions that the kidnappers, dressed in police commando camouflage uniforms and driving official vehicles, were a renegade unit from his ministry.
Interior Ministry forces are known to be heavily infiltrated by Shia militias, including the Mahdi Army, and have often been accused of kidnappings and sectarian killings. The Mahdi Army also tried to distance itself from the abductions.
Attending the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Germany, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, described the abduction as a “very distressing time for all concerned”.
She added: “We are working closely with the Iraqi authorities to establish the facts and doing all we can to secure their swift and safe release.”
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was trying yesterday to prevent the names of the five kidnapped Britons from being released “for their own safety and for the sake of the hostages’ families”.
From The Times
May 31, 2007
Deborah Haynes and Michael Evans
© Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd
Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times.
London UK
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1862625.ece
So well planned was the midday raid that not a single shot was fired, but at least one Western computer expert managed to escape.
No word has been heard from the gang more than 24 hours after it seized the computer analyst and four security guards, but Iraqi government officials pointed the finger at the Mahdi Army – the militia loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shia cleric.
Militia members, however, rejected the allegation, saying that they thought a Sunni gang linked to al-Qaeda was behind the kidnappings. US and other Western officials speculated that a smaller group or even a criminal network may have been involved.
With reinforcements coming in to help and much confusion remaining, British officials in Baghdad gave warning that the crisis could take a long time to resolve. “We are here for the long haul. Twenty-four hours have passed and we have heard nothing in the way of demands being made,” a British official said. Mowaffak al-Rubaie, Iraq’s National Security Advisor, told The Times that he had alerted Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi Prime Minister, as well as the Interior Ministry and Defence Ministry to make resolving the kidnappings a top priority.
“We are working closely with the coalition to track down the kidnappers. I have been liaising with the UK Embassy in Baghdad to coordinate our effort,” Dr al-Rubaie said.
At the Finance Ministry building in east Baghdad, where the abductions took place, the doors were locked and the offices closed. Guards outside told The Times that 16 of their colleagues had been hauled off by the Interior Ministry to be questioned about what happened.
One guard said the abducted Britons visited the computer science block facility daily.
After they arrived on Tuesday, however, 20 cars that looked like they were from the Interior Ministry drove up to the two-storey block and sealed off the surrounding roads, he said. Three men in suits flashed official badges to the guards outside and told them to stand back because they were on official business for the Integrity Commission.
Scores of armed men in commando uniform then entered the compound, which is surrounded by concrete blast walls. They walked straight up to the British security guards, who were sitting in two saloon cars parked outside, and asked them to get out and leave behind their weapons. The gang also ordered the Finance Ministry guards to lower their weapons, witnesses said.
At the same time, gunmen entered the building and snatched the computer expert. A second Western lecturer, whose nationality was not known, escaped abduction because he was hidden in a side room or cupboard, Iraqi and British officials said.
An Interior Ministry spokesman dismissed suggestions that the kidnappers, dressed in police commando camouflage uniforms and driving official vehicles, were a renegade unit from his ministry.
Interior Ministry forces are known to be heavily infiltrated by Shia militias, including the Mahdi Army, and have often been accused of kidnappings and sectarian killings. The Mahdi Army also tried to distance itself from the abductions.
Attending the G8 Foreign Ministers meeting in Germany, Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, described the abduction as a “very distressing time for all concerned”.
She added: “We are working closely with the Iraqi authorities to establish the facts and doing all we can to secure their swift and safe release.”
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office was trying yesterday to prevent the names of the five kidnapped Britons from being released “for their own safety and for the sake of the hostages’ families”.
From The Times
May 31, 2007
Deborah Haynes and Michael Evans
© Copyright 2007 Times Newspapers Ltd
Times Online, The Times and The Sunday Times.
London UK
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/iraq/article1862625.ece
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