Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms abducted an Iranian diplomat as he drove through central Baghdad, officials said Tuesday. According to the AP, an Iraqi government official said the diplomat was nabbed Sunday by a special Iraqi army unit that reports directly to the U.S. military. But a military spokesman denied any American troops or Iraqis that report to them were involved.
"We've checked with our units and it was not an MNF-I (Multi-National Forces - Iraq) unit that participated in that event," military spokesman Lt. Col. Christopher Garver said, adding he could not confirm the diplomat was seized.
An official with the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad said the diplomat was heading to check on the planned opening of an Iranian bank Sunday in the central Karradah neighborhood when he was seized by men wearing Iraqi army uniforms. The Iraqi government official said Iraqi troops in two vehicles intercepted a car carrying the diplomat at 6 p.m. Sunday in the predominantly Shiite area, then placed him in one of their vehicles that sped away.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini confirmed that gunmen had seized Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy, the official Islamic Republic News Agency reported. "The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns this aggressive act, which is in violation of international law," IRNA quoted Hosseini as saying. "Iran holds American forces in Iraq responsible for the safety and life of the Iranian diplomat."
Meanwhile, a British soldier died on Monday by a roadside bomb in Basra, the Ministry of Defence confirmed. Elsewhere, a U.S. soldier was killed north of Baghdad on Sunday by a bomb attack on his vehicle, the U.S. military reported. A second U.S. soldier died in combat in Diyala province on Sunday, Reuters reported.
