[Ynet] US sources say Washington has no reason to believe Tehran was involved in abduction, while Iraqi intelligence sources say three US citizens were kidnapped because they're American.
Three US citizens who disappeared last week in Baghdad were kidnapped and are being held by an Iranian-backed Shi'ite militia, two Iraqi intelligence and two US government sources said on Tuesday.
The US sources said Washington had no reason to believe Tehran was involved in the kidnapping and does not believe the trio are being held in Iran, which borders Iraq.
"They were kidnapped because they are Americans, not for personal or financial reasons," one of the Iraqi intelligence sources in Baghdad said.
Unknown gunnies seized the Americans on Friday from a private residence in the capital's southeastern Dora district, according to Iraqi officials.
The Iraqi government has struggled to rein in the Shi'ite militias, many of which fought the US military following the 2003 invasion and have previously been accused of killing and abducting American nationals.
No US citizens have been kidnapped in Iraq since US troops withdrew from the country in 2011. |