| “Al-Mashhadani and seven of her bodyguards were seized on July 1 by gunmen in a Shiite area of east Baghdad as they were travelling to attend a session of parliament” |
Kidnapped Sunni MP Tayseer al-Mashhadani was released today after being held for nearly two months, an adviser to the Iraqi Prime Minister said. Iraqi Islamic Party MP Tayseer Al-Mashhadani and seven of her bodyguards were seized on July 1 by gunmen in a Shiite area of east Baghdad as they were travelling to attend a session of parliament the following day. She will meet Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki later. No group claimed responsibility publicly for the kidnap, but Sunnis suspect she was taken by a Shiite militia, in one of many recent attacks aiming to stoke sectarian tension. |