US woman journalist kidnapped in Iraq
A US woman journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad Saturday and her translator killed, Iraqi security sources said, in the latest hostage crisis involving Westerners in the war-torn country.
"An American journalist is missing. We are investigating," said US embassy spokeswoman Elizabeth Colton, who declined to name the missing reporter.
Iraqi security officials said the journalist was abducted by armed men in the Adl district of western Baghdad and her translator found dead.
An Iraqi defence ministry official said the interpreter was able to tell soldiers that a US journalist was kidnapped before he died.
Officials said the journalist was seized as she was on her way to interview prominent Sunni Arab politician Adnan al-Dulaimi.
A guard outside Dulaimi's office told AFP he heard gunshots fired a short distance away and rushed to find the body of a slain man.
Dulaimi however told AFP he had no appointment to meet a Western journalist.
People living in the neighbourhood, which has been cordoned off by US and Iraqi security forces, were frightened and refused to talk to journalists.
Several Westerners are already being held hostage by insurgents in Iraq, including an American, a Briton and two Canadians, all members of a Christian peace group.
Baghdad: US Journalist Missing, Interpreter Killed
An American female journalist went missing and the body of her Iraqi interpreter found near a mosque in Baghdad on Saturday, an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.
The body of Alin Ghazi Jack, an Iraqi Christian interpreter, was found near the mosque of Anas Bin Malik in western Baghdad, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The U.S. journalist was heading to make an interview with Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Iraqi Consensus Front, a Sunni Arab political body, the source said, quoting the information from an Iraqi army force.
The Iraqi army said they only found the body of the interpreter, but the American journalist was not found.
Hmm... Well, if it was an American, (other than Christine Amanpour) that cuts the odds of it being a setup.
They won't get the Government to pay a ransom, although maybe her employers will be glad to pass a few million bucks along.
Hopefully she doesn't work for the New York Times. They don't have enough money to meet payroll, much less pay a big ransom.
Video was released showing the alleged shooting of the American from Alaska/S or N Dakota, but strangely enough there has been no confirmation of the death.
A guard outside Dulaimi's office told AFP he heard gunshots fired a short distance away and rushed to find the body of a slain man.
Does anyone even read this drivel before it's published??