Four Iraqi officers held over Iranian diplomat kidnapping

Four held over Iranian diplomat kidnapping

by Sabah Jerges Wed Feb 7, 7:36 AM ET

Four Iraqi military officers have been detained over the kidnapping of an Iranian diplomat in Baghdad, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari has said.

"Those detained are (Iraqi) military officers. But there is some questioning about their affiliations and who is ordering them to do these things," Zebari told reporters Wednesday.

"There are doubts that the four are affiliated with government entities," he added, without elaborating.

Jalal Sharafi, 40, the second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, was abducted in Karrada, a predominantly Shiite southeastern district of the capital, on Sunday by gunmen dressed in Iraqi army uniforms.

Iraq and Iran are working closely to resolve the kidnapping, an official at Tehran's embassy said Wednesday.

"There is a very close cooperation with the Iraqi government in this regard," a top official told AFP, noting that Iranian ambassador Hasan Kazemi Qmi had met both Zebari and defence minister Abdel Qader Jassim Mohammed to discuss the situation.

"We are working on this issue. We hope we can achieve something positive but I cannot reveal anything" for the moment, the official said.

He added that Sharafi, who had been working in Baghdad for two years, had just visited a soon-to-be-opened branch of the Iranian state-owned Bank Melli and was seized as he did some shopping nearby.

On Tuesday, the Iranian foreign ministry blamed a group linked to the Iraqi defence ministry, and indirectly US forces, for the abduction.

US military and diplomatic officials categorically denied any involvement in the incident.

Zebari also insisted that the US troops were not involved in the kidnapping.

"We were in continuous contact with the Americans and they confirmed to us that they had nothing to do with this incident at all," he said.

"I take their words and believe in what they say."

Zebari said the investigation into the kidnapping will be completed Wednesday and "a report will be handed to the office of the Prime Minister."

The abduction came amid mounting accusations by the United States that Tehran is meddling in Iraq and fueling sectarian bloodshed by assisting militias. Iran denies those allegations.

There is also speculation that the last month's attack on a police centre in the Shiite shrine city of Karbala had been carried out by Iranian agents or fighters trained by Tehran.

In a brazen raid on the Karbala police centre gunmen dressed in American-style uniforms killed five US troops. Four of them were first abducted and then shot dead.

US authorities in Iraq are also holding five Iranians detained last month on suspicion of fuelling the insurgency in the strife-torn country.

"We urge them (US) really to resolve this issue. We told them that regional authorities should know" about investigations, Zebari added.