Insurgents Kidnap Three Foreigners in Baghdad, Amid Rising Perils for Civilians in Iraq

Foreigners living and working in Iraq face increasingly dire circumstances, highlighted by the brazen kidnapping of two Americans and a British engineer in Baghdad's affluent Mansour neighborhood on Thursday. The targets, employees of GSCS Inc., a construction company handling projects for the American military, were seized without a struggle or gunfire, underscoring the growing threat to civilians. The abduction follows closely on the heels of similar incidents involving Italian and French hostages, demonstrating the escalating challenge for foreign workers in Iraq.

Key Takeaways:

• The kidnappings underscore the rapidly growing perils facing foreign civilians in Iraq, with over 100 foreigners abducted since April, including at least four Americans before Thursday.
• More than 100 foreigners have been abducted since April, with most being freed, but others killed, sometimes by decapitation.
• The Iraqi police found a body believed to be a foreigner north of Baghdad, shot in the head, and an Internet site showed a video of three Arabic-speaking truck drivers being shot dead by insurgents.
• Most kidnappings are believed to be carried out by groups seeking financial gain rather than ideological motives.
• The American military reported killing up to 60 insurgents in Falluja, and three marines died in combat in restive Anbar Province, bringing the number of American troops who have died since the start of the war to at least 1,021.
• GSCS Inc., the construction company employing the kidnapped Americans, handles projects throughout the Persian Gulf for the American military and has been in Iraq for six to seven months.
• The three Westerners kidnapped in Baghdad were not employing any armed guards at their home, a two-story concrete building in the Mansour neighborhood, and were trying to maintain a low profile in the area.
• Neighbors reported that up to two foreign Arabs lived in the house and used to maintain the generator and drive the Westerners but left a day or two earlier, receiving threats from insurgents.
• A bomb exploded in the Bettaween neighborhood in downtown Baghdad, killing one person and wounding 10 others, and the United States Army Corps of Engineers announced that the country's electricity grid had been fully restored after the sabotage of oil pipelines in the north on Tuesday.

Statistics:

• At least 1,021 American troops have died since the start of the war.
• Over 100 foreigners have been abducted since April, with a majority being freed.
• The kidnappers took the three Westerners without a struggle or gunfire.
• The Iraqi police found a body believed to be a foreigner north of Baghdad, shot in the head.
• The American military reported killing up to 60 insurgents in Falluja.
• Three marines died in combat in restive Anbar Province.

Sources:

• The Associated Press
• Reuters
• The New York Times
• The United States Embassy
• GSCS Inc.