Iraq's deputy oil minister, four others kidnapped from government compound

[ProSense]

Iraq's deputy oil minister, four others kidnapped from government compound

The Associated Press
Published: August 14, 2007

BAGHDAD: More than 50 gunmen dressed in Iraqi security forces uniforms and using 17 official vehicles broke into an Oil Ministry compound in eastern Baghdad Tuesday and abducted a senior deputy of the oil minister, and four other officials, a ministry spokesman and police said.

Abdel-Jabar al-Wagaa, the senior assistant to Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, was spirited away by the gunmen in what were believed to be military vehicles, said Assem Jihad, the Oil Ministry spokesman.

An Interior Ministry official, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to release the information, said a top official in the State Oil Marketing Organization and three directors general in the operation also were kidnapped.

The official said five bodyguards were wounded in the raid on the State Oil Marketing Organization complex on Palestine Street in eastern Baghdad.

Five Britons were seized May 29 in a similar raid on Iraq's Finance Ministry, not far from the oil marketing facility. They were taken by gunmen wearing police uniforms and have not been found.

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[MNDemNY]

1. So...there must be 50+ Iraqi security men running around naked?

I'm sure they were not really Iraqi forces, right?:sarcasm:

[ProSense]

2. U.S. helicopter crash in Iraq kills 5 (U.S. servicemembers)

U.S. helicopter crash in Iraq kills 5

By KIM GAMEL, Associated Press Writer
8 minutes ago

BAGHDAD - Three suicide truck bombers targeted members of an ancient religious sect in northwestern Iraq on Tuesday, killing at least 20 people, while the crash of an American transport helicopter near an air base in Anbar killed five U.S. servicemembers.

Four more U.S. soldiers were reported killed in separate attacks — three in an explosion near their vehicle Monday in the northwestern Ninevah province and another who was died of wounds from combat in western Baghdad.

In a separate attack, a fourth suicide truck bomber struck a strategic bridge on the main highway linking Baghdad with the northern city of Mosul, killing at least 10, police said. The span was bombed three months ago and only one lane had reopened, according to the police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

In Baghdad, dozens of uniformed gunmen in 17 official vehicles stormed an Oil Ministry compound and abducted a deputy oil minister and three other officials, a ministry spokesman and police said.

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