Gunmen ambushed two more top diplomats from Muslim countries Tuesday in apparent kidnap bids that seemed aimed at scaring off foreign governments and isolating Iraq from the Arab world.
 This is an interesting regression to barbarism that's actually pre-Islamic, maybe even pre-Civilization. Diplomats are occasionally tossed, sometimes even interned, but they're not bumped off. If I remember correctly, Vlad the Impaler did have the hats nailed to the heads of a couple of diplomats who displeased him, but he was kind of an exception to remotely civilized behavior. But then, so is Zarq, so I guess it's understandable from that standpoint... |
Pakistan responded by announcing the withdrawal of its ambassador.
The attacks, targeting diplomats from Bahrain as well as Pakistan, came three days after gunmen seized Egypt's top envoy to Iraq as he was buying a newspaper in the capital. The Egyptian envoy is still being held. Insurgents were hoping to sow a climate of fear and send a message "to the Arab countries not to open embassies in Iraq and to prevent security, economic and political overtures to Iraq," said Abbas al-Bayati, a member of the parliamentary foreign relations committee.
| Obviously that's their current campaign. If we lived in a reasonable world, or even in the world of our fathers, they'd be denounced for the savages they are in every country of the world, to include Swaziland. But we're not, so they won't be. Kofi will bleat, then shut up... |
Bahrain's top envoy in Iraq, Hassan Malallah al-Ansari, was slightly wounded as he drove to work in the Mansour district, hospital and Bahraini officials said. Bahraini officials said they believed it was a kidnap attempt. Pakistan's Ambassador Mohammed Younis Khan escaped injury later Tuesday when gunmen in two cars fired on his convoy in a kidnap attack in the same district, security officials said. Both envoys would leave the country temporarily, their governments said after the attacks. "Our escort fired back at them so we were able to escape without any harm," Khan told The Associated Press.
| Such things are a lot more common in Karachi, so at least he knew what to do... |
A Web statement Tuesday claimed responsibility in the name of al-Qaida in Iraq for the kidnapping of Egyptian diplomat Ihad al-Sherif. It marked the first time the group claimed responsibility for kidnapping a diplomat.
| "We're so proud! Our Moms are proud, too!" |
Al-Qaida in Iraq, considered one of the most fearsome militant groups in the country, has killed several foreign civilians and contractors that it abducted in the past, often releasing gruesome videos showing their beheadings. The statement made no threat to kill the diplomat and did not present any demands. It could not be verified but was signed "Abu Maysara al-Iraqi," the name used on all claims by al-Qaida in Iraq. Two Russian Embassy cars came under fire on the Baghdad airport road Sunday, the Interfax news agency reported in Moscow. Interfax quoted Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko as saying the gunfire "was not aimed specifically at the Russian Embassy cars, but was scattered." |
The reputed leader of