TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Two German engineers were kidnapped by unidentified armed men in the northern Iraqi oil-rich town of Baiji on Tuesday, local police told Xinhua.

   "Unknown armed men in two vehicles rushed into the resident camp of the Arabian Company for Detergent in the huge refinery of Baiji at about 8:00 a.m. (0500 GMT)," said Major Muthanna Ibrahim, from Baiji police.

   The gunmen dragged the two German nationals into their cars and fled the scene, he added.

   More than 200 foreigners have been kidnapped in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion into the country in March 2003. Dozens of the hostages were killed. Enditem