Posted on 06/03/2006 7:48:46 AM PDT by lizol
Russian diplomat 'killed in Iraq'
One Russian diplomat has been killed and four kidnapped in Iraq's capital, Baghdad, Iraqi interior ministry officials say.
The gunmen used three cars to block a road then opened fire on the Russian diplomatic vehicle, the officials say.
The attack took place in Mansour district in the west of the city, close to the Russian embassy.
An embassy official confirmed the death and abductions to Russia's Interfax agency but made no further comment.
Russia's foreign ministry in Moscow would only say it was still checking the information.
Mansour houses a number of embassies and has seen attacks on other diplomats.
A United Arab Emirates diplomat was seized and held for two weeks before being freed last month.
Last year, two Algerian, one Egyptian and two Moroccan embassy workers were abducted and killed.
Severed heads
The latest abductions came on another day of violence across the country.
Iraqi police said they had found eight severed heads on a roadside near the town of Baquba, 60km (35 miles) north-east of Baghdad.
The identities have not been confirmed but a note at the scene said at least one had been killed in retaliation for the murder of four Shia doctors.
Police told the Reuters news agency one of the men was identified as the Sunni preacher of a mosque in Tarmiya, 30km north of Baghdad.
And a police lieutenant-colonel, Adil Zihari, told Associated Press five of the men worked at a hospital in Baghdad.
Separately, seven policemen were killed and 10 other people wounded in an attack on a checkpoint in Baquba.
Insurgents raided the al-Razi checkpoint with rocket-propelled and hand grenades and small arms fire.
In other violence, at least four bodies were found across Baghdad, all with signs of torture.
The violence comes as the new government of Prime Minister Nouri Maliki prepares to name the new interior and defence ministers - a move the administration hopes will help ease unrest.
I wouldn't be suprised if Russian Spetnaz and SVR shows up in Iraq and deals with the terrorists that attacked the convoy. Also, the terrorist groups in Iraq that take aid from Rusia will assist the Russians with this.
The Chechnyans take aid from the Russian military.
Or, this could have been a contract killing for the Russians.
The KGB did it all the time when they wanted to dispose of an agent abroad.
" wouldn't be suprised if Russian Spetnaz and SVR shows up in Iraq and deals with the terrorists that attacked the convoy. Also, the terrorist groups in Iraq that take aid from Rusia will assist the Russians with this."
The Spetznaz is a joke and the SVR does'nt do wet operations. The reason this "diplomat" was killed was probably becasue he ripped off some local gangsters in some shady deal and now has been made to pay up.
http://www.kuna.net.kw/home/Story.aspx?Language=en&DSNO=872865
Things got wrapped up quickly ... perhaps too quickly.
Putin spends a lot of time and effort funding Islamic terror. He seems to think it's OK as long as it's turned against the U.S.
He had a choice between cooperating with us against the Islamists on Russia's southern borders or cooperating with the Islamists to stir up trouble for us. For a while, he seemed willing to cooperate with us, but not for long. He backed Saddam, he backed Syria, he backed Iran. He backs Chavez in South America. It seems as if old habits die hard.
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