Egypt envoy to Iraq killed, al-Qaida claims

AL-QAIDA in Iraq yesterday claimed that it has killed Egypt’s top envoy in Iraq, posting a video of the blindfolded diplomat identifying himself.

A statement purportedly from al-Qaida said it delayed claiming responsibility for the Saturday abduction of Ihab al-Sherif “to be able to capture as many ambassadors as we can”.

The claim of responsibility for the abduction was posted on Tuesday following kidnap attempts against top diplomats from Pakistan and Bahrain in a campaign to isolate Iraq’s US-backed government in the Arab and Muslim world.

“We announce in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq that the verdict of God against the ambassador of the infidels, the ambassador of Egypt, has been carried out. Thank god,” a written statement in the web posting said.

The video showed Mr al-Sherif blindfolded and wearing a polo shirt. He identified himself as the head of Egypt’s mission in Iraq. However, the tape did not show Mr al-Sherif’s death. Previous al-Qaida tapes did show hooded men butchering their captives.

If the claim to have assassinated Mr al-Sherif is true, it would mark a dramatic escalation in a campaign to discourage Arab and Muslim governments from sending ambassadors and strengthening ties with Iraq, as Washington wants. Iraqi officials have called on other countries to stay the course. Mr al-Sherif, 51, was seized in a Baghdad neighbourhood as he was buying a newspaper, witnesses said. He was not accompanied by security.

Elsewhere, Iraq’s president called for national unity yesterday as mortar attacks killed four civilians in the northern city of Mosul and police opened fire on demonstrators in Saddam Hussein’s hometown Tikrit, wounding four. President Jalal Talabani addressed hundreds of Shi’ite clerics at a constitutional conference in the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf, 100 miles from Baghdad.

More than 1,465 people have been killed in insurgent attacks since Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari announced his new Shi’ite-led government on April 28.