Militants ambush convoy in Baghdad
Militants ambushed a convoy carrying an Iraqi interior minister in the Baghdad today, killing a bodyguard and injuring three others.
General Tariq al-Baldawi, a deputy interior minister, escaped unhurt after gunmen in two cars opened fire on his convoy, said an official.
But a bodyguard was killed in the attack and three others suffered injuries, including al-Baldawi’s son, said the official.
The attack coincided with US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s visit to Iraq.
Rumsfeld’s visit, an architect of the US-led March 2003 invasion and troubled occupation since, reflected a desire to push the political and military momentum that he believes has been growing since the elections for a national assembly.
He was due to hold talks in Baghdad today with Interim President Jalal Talabani, a former Kurdish rebel leader, and Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the Shiite Muslim who was designated interim prime minister last week.
The Iraqi government said today it had captured an insurgent who has confessed to attempting to cross into Syria to collect a car bomb for detonation in Iraq and that the detainee has “links” with Syria’s intelligence services.
Border guards arrested the man, an Iraqi, on April 10 as he tried to cross into Syria, the defence ministry said in a statement.
Syria has repeatedly denied that it supports or intentionally harbours Iraqi insurgents or would-be insurgents, but says it can’t completely seal its long border with Iraq.
The US embassy last night announced the kidnapping of an American citizen.
A spokesman said the American contractor, who was working on a reconstruction project, had been abducted around noon on Monday.
