Iraq policemen held over kidnap

BBC

Five senior police officers have been arrested in connection with the seizure of scores of staff and visitors from a government building in Baghdad.
Among those held was the police chief of the Karrada district, site of the higher education ministry building.

The gunmen wore military-style uniforms like those issued to Iraqi police.

About 20 of the abductees were released on Tuesday evening, while Iraqi officials suggested some 40 to 50 hostages remained in captivity.

However, figures varied substantially. Initial estimates suggested that more than 100 people had been seized, but that was later revised down,

A spokesman at the education ministry said about 70 people worked in the building, but there was no way of knowing who was in the building at the time.

The attackers stormed the education ministry's research department, locked women in a room and took the men away.
It was the latest attack to target Iraq's academics, who are increasingly fleeing the country in the face of the violence.

Correspondents say many Iraqis believe mass kidnappings like this latest incident are committed by members of the Shia Muslim-dominated security forces, or take place with their collusion.

Such kidnappings are often for ransom, but many victims are subsequently found dead.

Higher Education Minister Abd Dhiab ordered all Baghdad's universities to close until the security situation improved.

In other developments:


A blast at Baghdad's Shurja market killed 10 people and wounded 25, police said

An overnight US raid killed six people in mainly-Shia east Baghdad, sparking angry anti-US protests

Thirty died in a US raid on the Sunni stronghold of Ramadi, Iraqi officials said

Police found 11 bodies with gunshot wounds in Mosul, while 10 kidnap victims were found shot dead in Baquba