 Iraqi officials searched Saturday for a political leader's teenage daughter, abducted as she walked home from a math tutoring session in Baghdad, CNN said. The abductors used the 16-year-old's cell phone Friday night to send a text message to Khadim Yousef Hulfi, saying, "We have fulfilled our promise to you. We have your daughter." Hulfi is the assistant to the secretary-general of the Iraqi Council of Ministers. Police said the kidnappers have not made any demands and were being sought.
| Hope the Iraqis realize this is the kind of state these guys want to establish. They should, since it's just like the kind they used to have. |
Meanwhile, a Muslim group linked to the al-Qaida terror network claimed responsibility for killing a top aide to Iraq's leading Shiite cleric. Ansar al-Islam took responsibility Friday for killing Mahmoud Madaeni, who was shot to death with his son and four bodyguards as he walked home from prayers Wednesday night near his house southeast of Baghdad, the Washington Post reported Saturday. Madaeni was a local clerical representative of Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, whose support for the Jan. 30 election has mobilized much of Iraq's Shiite majority. Ansar al-Islam called Madaeni "one of the main supporters of the election" and reiterated its threats to target voters and candidates and to attack polling stations." |