Iraq’s interior minister Sunday accused an un-named regional power of being behind a recent spate of mass kidnappings in Baghdad and promised to reveal more details in the coming days. Jawad al-Bolani said an investigation into the hostage-takings, in which large squads of gunmen in camouflage uniforms and police jeeps grabbed dozens of Iraqis from central Baghdad, would soon lead to charges. “The mass kidnappings were messages addressed to the Iraqi political process and the government,” Bolani told a news conference in the fortified Green Zone in the Iraqi capital. “We have uncovered information and we will soon bring those behind these kidnappings to justice. There is a regional actor behind these kidnappings and we will soon place the results of our inquiry before the public.”
Commanders of the US force deployed in Iraq, in support of the government, regularly accuse both Iran and Syria of fomenting unrest, but Bolani would not be drawn on the identity of the country or countries fingered by his inquiry. Last week dozens of hostages were taken from the Red Crescent aid agency’s main Baghdad office – 13 of them are still missing – while the week before several dozen merchants were taken from a popular commercial street. |