Russian diplomat killed and four abducted in Iraq

A Russian Embassy official in Baghdad said today that one diplomat was killed and four diplomatic employees were abducted in the Iraqi capital.

“Yes, I can confirm this. One diplomat killed, four employees kidnapped. That’s all I can say. No commentary,” the official, contacted by telephone from Moscow, told The Associated Press. He refused to give his name or provide any further details.

According to police, witnesses at the scene told them than gunmen opened fire on a car that belonged to the Russian Embassy in west Baghdad’s upmarket Mansour district. Interior Ministry Lt. Col. Falah al-Mohamedawi said one person was killed in the incident, which took place just outside the embassy.

TheRussian consul in Baghdad told Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency that one Russian diplomat had been killed and four abducted.

“One (embassy) official was killed and four kidnapped,” Alexander Potapov told RIA Novosti on the phone but did not elaborate.

Associated Press Television News footage showed a white SUV with tinted windows, diplomatic licence plates and a small tag that had Russian Embassy written on it in English and Arabic. That sign had a bullet hole in it. An ambulance was seen driving into the embassy.

A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry could not immediately comment on reports. There was no immediate comment from the Iraqi foreign ministry.

At least 439 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the US-led invasion three years ago, according to figures provided earlier this month by a special US anti-kidnapping task force. Diplomats have been the targets of abductions previously.

In May 2004, gunmen ambushed Russian electrical engineers at Musayyib, kidnapping two and killing one. The two hostages were later released. Rebels also ambushed Russian technicians heading to a Baghdad power plant the same month, killing two and an Iraqi. The violence prompted Moscow-based Interenergoservis to pull out its 241 employees.

Russia opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq, has no troops here but maintains a diplomatic presence in Iraq.

The most recent was a United Arab Emirates diplomat who was seized by gunmen in Mansour and held for more than two weeks before being released late last month.

Last July, two Algerian diplomats and an Egyptian colleague were separately kidnapped and killed. In October, two Moroccan Embassy workers were abducted and later killed. The insurgent group al Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for all the abductions.