irra!
02-04-2005, 10:50 AM
BAGHDAD (AFP) - A female Italian journalist was kidnapped by armed men in central Baghdad near the city's main university, just minutes after she had called her office to say she was fine.
AFP/File Photo
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"The Italian journalist was kidnapped today around 2 pm (1100 GMT) in the district of al-Jadriya near Baghdad university," an Iraqi interior ministry official said.
"Men in a minibus blocked their car. They took the journalist and an Iraqi driver who were found in the car and whisked them away to an unknown location," the official said.
Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said the woman, Giuliana Sgrena, had "probably beeen kidnapped by a Sunni (Muslim) group."
He voiced the Italian government's "unconditional solidarity" with her and pledged its commitment "to do everything possible to secure her release."
Sgrena, who writes for the Italian leftist daily Il Manifesto, had called her office to say she was fine but was abducted a few minutes later, her paper said from Rome.
"Giuliana called us a quarter of an hour ago to say she was fine, but five minutes later her interpreter rang us back to say that she had been abducted near a mosque in Baghdad," Gabriele Polo, one of the newspaper's directors, told AFP.
Polo, whose paper opposed last year's US-led invasion of Iraq (news - web sites), said US and Iraqi forces and the Italian embassy had been informed of the kidnapping.
Barbara Schiavulli, a reporter working for Italy's Grt radio, said she had been on the telephone with her when the abduction took place.
"She called me as the kidnappers were taking her away. I heard the shots and shouted 'Giuliana, Giuliana', but she didn't reply," she told the Italian news agency Ansa.
Around 20 foreigners seized since Iraq's hostage crisis erupted last April remain missing. Militant groups claim to have murdered more than 30 foreign captives but the authenticity of some claims has been questioned.
Another Italian journalist, Enzo Baldoni, was kidnapped on August 20 last year between Baghdad and Najaf. He was killed by the Islamic Army in Iraq and his death shown on a video released over the Internet.
In September, two Italian women working for humanitarian organisations in Iraq were abducted and held for three weeks before being released.
Among those listed as missing are Florence Aubenas, a French journalist for the daily Liberation newspaper, and her Iraqi translator. They disappeared on January 5 and are thought to have been kidnapped
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050204/i/r4101809063.jpg
AFP/File Photo
Latest headlines:
· Shi'ites in Strong Lead as Iraq Counts Votes
******* - 4 minutes ago
· Correction: Iraq-Election-Blues Story
AP - 26 minutes ago
· Conflicts Cited in Iraq Oil Program
washingtonpost.com - 30 minutes ago
Special Coverage
"The Italian journalist was kidnapped today around 2 pm (1100 GMT) in the district of al-Jadriya near Baghdad university," an Iraqi interior ministry official said.
"Men in a minibus blocked their car. They took the journalist and an Iraqi driver who were found in the car and whisked them away to an unknown location," the official said.
Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said the woman, Giuliana Sgrena, had "probably beeen kidnapped by a Sunni (Muslim) group."
He voiced the Italian government's "unconditional solidarity" with her and pledged its commitment "to do everything possible to secure her release."
Sgrena, who writes for the Italian leftist daily Il Manifesto, had called her office to say she was fine but was abducted a few minutes later, her paper said from Rome.
"Giuliana called us a quarter of an hour ago to say she was fine, but five minutes later her interpreter rang us back to say that she had been abducted near a mosque in Baghdad," Gabriele Polo, one of the newspaper's directors, told AFP.
Polo, whose paper opposed last year's US-led invasion of Iraq (news - web sites), said US and Iraqi forces and the Italian embassy had been informed of the kidnapping.
Barbara Schiavulli, a reporter working for Italy's Grt radio, said she had been on the telephone with her when the abduction took place.
"She called me as the kidnappers were taking her away. I heard the shots and shouted 'Giuliana, Giuliana', but she didn't reply," she told the Italian news agency Ansa.
Around 20 foreigners seized since Iraq's hostage crisis erupted last April remain missing. Militant groups claim to have murdered more than 30 foreign captives but the authenticity of some claims has been questioned.
Another Italian journalist, Enzo Baldoni, was kidnapped on August 20 last year between Baghdad and Najaf. He was killed by the Islamic Army in Iraq and his death shown on a video released over the Internet.
In September, two Italian women working for humanitarian organisations in Iraq were abducted and held for three weeks before being released.
Among those listed as missing are Florence Aubenas, a French journalist for the daily Liberation newspaper, and her Iraqi translator. They disappeared on January 5 and are thought to have been kidnapped
http://us.news1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/rids/20050204/i/r4101809063.jpg