The Scum at the Top
Commentary on the Rats in Washington
Officials: Iranian Envoy Seized in Iraq
By Qassim Abdul-Zahra
The Associated Press
© February 6, 2007
Gunmen wearing Iraqi army uniforms seized
an Iranian diplomat as he drove through
central Baghdad, officials said Tuesday.
Iran said it held the United States responsible
for the diplomat's "safety and life."
One Iraqi government official said the Iranian
diplomat was detained Sunday by an Iraqi army
unit that reports directly to the U.S. military.
A military spokesman denied any U.S. troops
or Iraqis that report to them were involved.
"We've checked with our units and it was not
an MNF-I (Multi-National Forces - Iraq) unit
that participated in that event," said Lt.
Col. Christopher Garver, a U.S. military spokesman.
Iraqis also faced more violence on Tuesday
as U.S. and Iraqi forces set up more checkpoints
in preparation for a security sweep in Baghdad
amid complaints that the operation was moving
too slowly.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acknowledged
that preparations for the crackdown were off
to a slow start.
"The operations will unite us and we will
take action soon, God willing, even though
I have the feeling that we have been late and
this delay has started to give a negative
message," he said in a meeting with military
commanders shown on Iraqi state television.
The Iranian government condemned the seizure
of Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at
the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad, saying he
was seized Sunday by gunmen who "operate
under the supervision of the American forces
in Iraq," the official Islamic Republic News
Agency reported.
"Iran holds American forces in Iraq
responsible for the safety and life of the
Iranian diplomat," IRNA quoted him as saying.
The incident comes as tensions have been
rising between Iran and the United States
and the Shiite-led Iraqi government has
shown increasing impatience with both sides
for letting their disagreements spill over
the border, with the U.S. detentions of at
least eight Iranians in recent months.
The White House also has authorized U.S.
troops in Iraq to kill or capture Iranian
agents deemed to be a threat, saying evidence
was mounting that Iran is supporting terrorists
inside Iraq and is a major supplier of bombs
and other weapons used to target U.S. forces.
Iran has denied the charges.
The Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan
Kazemi Qomi, said the gunmen used American
vehicles and the diplomat's seizure appeared
to be "within the framework of U.S. president's
order to step up encounters with Iranians"
in Iraq, Iranian state television reported.
He also told state TV that al-Maliki had
appointed a team to investigate the fate of
the Iranian diplomat.
There were conflicting descriptions of the
abduction.
An official with the Iranian Embassy in Baghdad,
who spoke on condition of anonymity because
he was not authorized to disclose the information,
said the diplomat was heading to check on the
planned opening of an Iranian bank Sunday in
the central Karradah neighborhood when he was
seized by men wearing Iraqi army uniforms.
The Iraqi government official, who declined
to be identified because of the sensitivity
of the information, said the diplomat was
seized at 6 p.m. after his vehicle was
intercepted by Iraqi commandos who were part
of a unit that reports directly to the U.S.
The official said some of the Iraqi troops
involved in seizing the diplomat were detained
after a gunfight with police but they were
released Monday.
Two other Iraqi officials said earlier that
the diplomat was kidnapped by gunmen in Karradah,
which has been hit by several recent bombings,
and they expected negotiations to start to
secure his release.
Garver, the U.S. military spokesman, said the
American military had not found anything to
indicate its units were involved.
The U.S. Embassy spokesman said he could not
confirm the reports.
"There appear to be conflicting accounts of
this alleged incident and we are in the process
of trying to determine the facts," the spokesman,
Lou Fintor, said.
A U.S. Marine was killed in fighting in the
volatile Anbar province on Monday, the military
said Tuesday.
At least nine people were killed in bombs and
mortar attacks nationwide, including a parked
car bomb that exploded in southern Baghdad,
killing three civilians and wounding three
others, police said.
New checkpoints were set up overnight by Iraqi
soldiers and police mainly Shiite southeastern
neighborhood of New Baghdad and at the entrances
to the Shiite slum of Sadr City, a stronghold
of the Mahdi Army militia that has been blamed
for much of the sectarian violence in the capital.
Associated Press Writer Ali Akbar Dareini in
Tehran, Iran, contributed to this report.
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Last Modified:
February 10, 2007