Iraqi general kidnapped in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Gunmen kidnapped a senior adviser to the Iraqi defence minister in Baghdad, his family and a ministry official said Saturday.

Lieutenant General Thamer Sultan, a Sunni who once served as a divisional commander in ousted dictator Saddam Hussein's armed forces, was snatched in the Jamiaa district of western Baghdad, they said.

Sultan works as an adviser to Iraq's defence minister, Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed, another Sunni. He hails from Saddam's home town, Tikrit.