BAGHDAD, Dec. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- An Egyptian contractor, kidnapped in Tikrit, some 170 km north of Baghdad, was found dead on Saturday, a police source told Xinhua.

    The bullet-riddled body of Ibrahim al-Seid al-Hilali, 46, was found on the roadside in northern Tikrit, the source said, without giving further details.

    Hilali, a contractor working for the Americans, was abducted on Friday night when unknown gunmen in two cars raided his house in Tikrit and took him away.

    No organizations or groups claimed responsibility for the abduction and murder, the police said.

    There has been a new wave of kidnappings in Iraq in recent days with quite a few foreigners being abducted. Enditem