US Journalist Abducted in Iraq — Gulf Times
Gulf Times Newspaper (Doha, Qatar)
Published: Sunday, 8 January, 2006, 11:23 AM Doha Time
BAGHDAD: A US woman journalist was kidnapped by gunmen in the Iraqi capital yesterday and her translator killed, the latest Westerner to be held by insurgents in the war-torn country.
“An American journalist is missing. We are investigating,” said US embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton, who declined to name her.
Iraqi security officials said a US woman journalist was abducted by armed men in the Adl district of western Baghdad and that her translator had died.
An Iraqi defence ministry official said the interpreter was able to tell soldiers before he died that the journalist was kidnapped.
Officials said the reporter was seized on her way to interview prominent Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi.
A guard outside Dulaimi’s office said he heard gunshots fired a short distance away and rushed to find the body of a slain man.
Dulaimi himself said he had no appointment to meet a Western journalist.
People living in the neighbourhood, which has been cordoned off by US and Iraqi security forces, were frightened and refused to talk to journalists.
Some 250 foreigners have being kidnapped over the past two years by insurgents in Iraq. Some have been released, some murdered while others remain missing.
Hundreds of Iraqis have also been abducted, often for ransom, or by rebels seeking to discredit the government. One of the latest such victims was a sister of Interior Minister Bayan Jabr Solagh.
Meanwhile, US officials have sought to downplay the surge in violence that on Thursday alone claimed the lives of more than 115 Iraqis and 11 US servicemen.
“These attacks are very clearly designed to try to divide the Iraqi people. They are very clearly designed to try to derail the political development of Iraq,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
“What is important ... is that (Iraqi leaders) try to move beyond identity politics and really engage in cross-sectarian, cross-ethnic activities in looking to build those coalitions and to do what is right for all Iraqis,” he added.
General George Casey, commander of the US-led forces in Iraq, described the rise in insurgent attacks this week as an “anomaly”.
Clashes broke out early yesterday between insurgents and US troops in Fallujah amid reports of one US soldier killed, police said.
The police said that gunmen positioned themselves on top of the roof of a building in Wahda neighbourhood in the centre of the restive city. They opened fire on a US patrol, killing one soldier and injuring three.
The police said the troops opened fire to protect themselves, injuring two bystanding women and a man.
In another incident, a mortar fell on a US base in the Shurta neighbourhood of Fallujah. No information on the incidents was immediately available from the US military.
Assailants earlier opened fire at a doctor working at the city clinic in Fallujah. Health sources said the assailants shot Ali Hussein at the clinic and he died at the hospital later.
In Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, gunmen attacked a police patrol, injuring six policemen, the police said.
Also in Baquba, gunmen attacked a family whose father reportedly works as a contractor with US troops, killing a child and injuring an elderly man.
Hospital sources said the incident took place in Tarfa village in the Buhriz district of Baquba.
In Baghdad, a car bomber struck a police checkpoint yesterday, injuring five policemen. The incident took place in Baghdad Jadida, a neighbourhood in the east of the capital.
Click here for the Gulf Times article.
Published: Sunday, 8 January, 2006, 11:23 AM Doha Time
BAGHDAD: A US woman journalist was kidnapped by gunmen in the Iraqi capital yesterday and her translator killed, the latest Westerner to be held by insurgents in the war-torn country.
“An American journalist is missing. We are investigating,” said US embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton, who declined to name her.
Iraqi security officials said a US woman journalist was abducted by armed men in the Adl district of western Baghdad and that her translator had died.
An Iraqi defence ministry official said the interpreter was able to tell soldiers before he died that the journalist was kidnapped.
Officials said the reporter was seized on her way to interview prominent Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi.
A guard outside Dulaimi’s office said he heard gunshots fired a short distance away and rushed to find the body of a slain man.
Dulaimi himself said he had no appointment to meet a Western journalist.
People living in the neighbourhood, which has been cordoned off by US and Iraqi security forces, were frightened and refused to talk to journalists.
Some 250 foreigners have being kidnapped over the past two years by insurgents in Iraq. Some have been released, some murdered while others remain missing.
Hundreds of Iraqis have also been abducted, often for ransom, or by rebels seeking to discredit the government. One of the latest such victims was a sister of Interior Minister Bayan Jabr Solagh.
Meanwhile, US officials have sought to downplay the surge in violence that on Thursday alone claimed the lives of more than 115 Iraqis and 11 US servicemen.
“These attacks are very clearly designed to try to divide the Iraqi people. They are very clearly designed to try to derail the political development of Iraq,” State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
“What is important ... is that (Iraqi leaders) try to move beyond identity politics and really engage in cross-sectarian, cross-ethnic activities in looking to build those coalitions and to do what is right for all Iraqis,” he added.
General George Casey, commander of the US-led forces in Iraq, described the rise in insurgent attacks this week as an “anomaly”.
Clashes broke out early yesterday between insurgents and US troops in Fallujah amid reports of one US soldier killed, police said.
The police said that gunmen positioned themselves on top of the roof of a building in Wahda neighbourhood in the centre of the restive city. They opened fire on a US patrol, killing one soldier and injuring three.
The police said the troops opened fire to protect themselves, injuring two bystanding women and a man.
In another incident, a mortar fell on a US base in the Shurta neighbourhood of Fallujah. No information on the incidents was immediately available from the US military.
Assailants earlier opened fire at a doctor working at the city clinic in Fallujah. Health sources said the assailants shot Ali Hussein at the clinic and he died at the hospital later.
In Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, gunmen attacked a police patrol, injuring six policemen, the police said.
Also in Baquba, gunmen attacked a family whose father reportedly works as a contractor with US troops, killing a child and injuring an elderly man.
Hospital sources said the incident took place in Tarfa village in the Buhriz district of Baquba.
In Baghdad, a car bomber struck a police checkpoint yesterday, injuring five policemen. The incident took place in Baghdad Jadida, a neighbourhood in the east of the capital.
Click here for the Gulf Times article.
posted by Sean M. Madden at
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