Gunmen kidnap Iranian diplomat in Iraq
'Pakistan Times' Wire Service

BAGHDAD: Gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms kidnapped a senior Iranian diplomat in Baghdad on Sunday, an Iraqi government official said on Tuesday.

"We are dealing with this as a kidnapping," the official told foreign news agency.

The official said the diplomat, the second secretary at the Iranian embassy in Baghdad, was snatched in the central Karrada district by 30 gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms.

Iran Condemns

And a report from Tehran says that Iran on Tuesday condemned the abduction of its diplomat in Baghdad, adding that it holds the United States responsible for his life.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini said that gunmen in Iraqi army uniforms had seized Jalal Sharafi, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy, as he drove through central Baghdad on Sunday.

Hosseini said the gunmen ``operate under the supervision of the American forces in Iraq," the official news agency reported.

"The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly condemns this aggressive act which is in violation of international law,'' the agency quoted Hosseini as saying.

"Iran holds American forces in Iraq responsible for the safety and life of the Iranian diplomat," Hosseini added.●