Police said among those kidnapped were the head of the U.S. and Iraqi Joint Trade Chamber and 11 of his employees, according to the report of Reuters.

    The gunmen pulled up in 15 four-wheel-drive vehicles and kidnapped employees and customers at the office on a street in Arasat, once a thriving commercial district that has seen many businesses close due to violence ravaging the country. 

    Unrest and sectarian violence have been unabated in the Iraqi capital despite security clampdown by the new government, which took office in May. Enditem

   (Agencies)