Iraqi gunmen kidnap governor

Gunmen have kidnapped the governor of Iraq’s western Anbar province and told his family he would be released when US forces withdraw from Qaim, the site of a major new offensive against followers of Iraq’s most wanted militant, relatives said today.

Governor Raja Nawaf Farhan al-Mahalawi was seized as he drove from Qaim to the provincial capital of Ramadi this morning, his brother, Hammad, said.