BAGHDAD, Sept. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Gunmen kidnapped the head of an American security company in southern Baghdad, capital of Iraq, on Saturday, police said.

    "An Iraqi national, Laith Kadhim al-Azawi, was kidnapped by armed men disguising with police uniform at about 11:40 a.m. (0740 GMT) in Doura district," an Interior Ministry source told Xinhua.

    Azawi used to head an American security company specialized in protecting local and foreign individuals and groups.

    The kidnappers, in two vehicles, dragged Azawi into one of theircars, but they left his driver and car on the highway in southern Baghdad, according to the source.

    Bombings, assassinations and kidnappings are rampant in the war-ravaged Iraq as sectarian tensions are running high and insurgents of ten resort to violent means to drive out foreign troops and companies. Enditem