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| Iraq |
| Christian party officials killed in Iraq |
| 2005-11-29 |
| BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Gunmen ambushed members of a Christian political party, the Assyrian Democratic movement, in the northern city of Mosul on Tuesday, killing two of them and wounding two others, a hospital official said. The attack happened in northeast Mosul as party officials were putting up posters for the December 15 parliamentary elections, said the official at Jamhouri hospital. The killings come a day after gunmen killed a top Sunni Arab political activist, another sheik and their driver in Zaydun, west of Baghdad. Sheikh Ayad al-Izzi, an Iraqi Islamic Party official, had been involved in the upcoming elections and the development a new Iraqi constitution. More kidnappings A German woman and her driver likely were kidnapped in Iraq, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Tuesday. The two have been missing since Friday. Merkel's announcement brings to five the number of Westerners kidnapped over the weekend. A group dedicated to nonviolence, the Christian Peacemaker Teams, confirmed Monday that four aid workers affiliated with the organization were kidnapped Saturday. According to a CNN tally, as of Sunday, 34 people are being held captive in Iraq and three remain unaccounted for. More than 50 hostages have been killed, while 175 either were released, rescued or escaped, the CNN tally found. In addition, six Iranian pilgrims were abducted Tuesday near Balad, 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of Baghdad, The Associated Press reported. Other developments Two Task Force Baghdad soldiers were killed Tuesday when their patrol struck a roadside bomb north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said. No further details were provided. The number of U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war stands at 2,111. The chief judge in Saddam Hussein's trial adjourned it until Monday after defendants said they weren't pleased with court-appointed lawyers and wanted replacements for two attorneys who were killed recently. Joining Hussein's defense team is former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark, who questioned the adequacy of security measures for the defense team and attorneys' families. The Iraqi army has detained a former intelligence officer from Hussein's regime alleged to be involved in a plot to kill Raad Johi, the head judge in the trial of the former Iraqi leader, a high-ranking Iraqi army official said. The intelligence officer, Khaz'al al-Kurdi, was detained Saturday in the northern city of Kirkuk after being under surveillance for three days, the army official said. Six others also were detained. |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #1 The kidnapped went to Iraq to promote peace. They are now in the hands of the "Religion of Peace." I find it difficult to understand what all the fuss is about. I think it is a ploy like that sad French captive. Leave them with thier loving hosts. |
| Posted by: mag44_vaquero 2005-11-29 13:35 |