Egypt ambassador seized in Iraq

BBC

Egypt's new ambassador to Iraq has been kidnapped, within five weeks of arriving in the country.

Ihab al-Sherif was seized by gunmen in Baghdad on Saturday evening as he was buying a newspaper, witnesses said.

An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman called on his kidnappers to treat him well and to see him as an Arab patriot.

The kidnappers may have been angered by Egypt's decision to upgrade ties, says the BBC's Heba Saleh in Cairo.

Mr Sherif arrived in Baghdad on 1 June as Egypt's top diplomat, and was subsequently upgraded to ambassador.

Last week, Iraq's foreign minister praised Egypt for becoming the first Arab country to upgrade ties with Iraq.

Many Arab countries withdrew their ambassadors from Iraq after Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990.

The US has been encouraging Arab countries to appoint ambassadors to Baghdad in an attempt to strengthen the new state and undermine the insurgency.