Free Republic

Excerpt - BAGHDAD, Iraq - Gunmen kidnapped the head of Iraq's Olympic committee and more than a dozen employees Saturday after storming a sports conference in Baghdad, police said. The kidnappers wore camouflage Iraqi police uniforms and security guards outside the meeting said they did not interfere because they thought the gunmen were legitimate law enforcement, police said. Ahmed al-Hijiya, president of the committee, was taken in the assault, which came a day after the coach of Iraq's national wrestling team was killed by kidnappers, said police Lt. Thaer Mahmoud. Others taken Saturday included the deputy head of the Olympic...

Head of Iraq's Olympic Committee Kidnapped Gunmen kidnapped the head of Iraq's Olympic committee and at least 30 employees after storming their offices in Baghdad on Saturday, police said. The gunmen were riding in three government vehicles and wearing police uniforms when they broke into a cultural center in central Baghdad, police Lt. Thair Mahmoud said. Mahmoud said Ahmed al-Hijiya, president of the committee, was taken around 1:30 p.m. along with other employees as they attended a conference in the neighborhood of Karradah.