Military

DATE=7/24/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=IRAQ / KIDNAPPINGS (L-O)

NUMBER=2-317747

BYLINE=GREG LAMOTTE

DATELINE=BAGHDAD

CONTENT=

HEADLINE: Series of Kidnappings Continues in Iraq

INTRO: An Iraqi construction contractor was abducted in Iraq Saturday, a day after the kidnapping of an Egyptian diplomat. VOA's Greg LaMotte in Baghdad reports, Iraqi officials are urging governments and companies operating in Iraq not to negotiate with kidnappers.

TEXT: Iraqi police say Ra'ad Adnan, the general manager of Iraq's state-owned construction company, was kidnapped as he drove in central Baghdad.

Friday, an Egyptian diplomat, Mohammed Qutb, was kidnapped in front of a mosque by members of a group calling itself Lions of God Battalions.

A senior Egyptian government official in Cairo says the kidnappers of the diplomat are demanding the Egyptian government, as the official put it, "steer clear of Iraq." The official says Egypt has little negotiating power, because, he says, Egypt has no troops in Iraq.

The official said Iraqi interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who is currently in Damascus meeting with Syrian officials, called Cairo Saturday, and urged government officials not to negotiate with the kidnappers.

Seven foreign truck drivers working for a Kuwaiti company were taken hostage earlier this week. Their kidnappers are threatening to behead the hostages, unless all Iraqi prisoners in American and Kuwaiti jails are released, and the Kuwaiti trucking company the hostages work for pays restitution to the families of those killed during battles in Fallujah.

Iraqi officials say the wave of kidnappings this week in Iraq could very well be traced to last week's decision by the Philippine government to pull its 51 troops out of Iraq. Manila met the demands of kidnappers, who were holding a Philippine truck driver hostage and were threatening to behead him.

Iraq's prime minister, Iyad Allawi, had urged the Philippines not to respond to the demand, saying it would only lead to more kidnappings. An Interior Ministry official said "it appears that is exactly what is happening now."

At least 50 foreigners have been taken hostage since April, most of them truck drivers working for companies that transport supplies to coalition forces. (SIGNED)

NEB/GL/LDJ/TW