Iraqi PM pledges to arrest kidnappers of ministry employees

    BAGHDAD, Nov. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki pledged Wednesday to arrest all those carried out kidnappings in Baghdad within the "open battle with terrorists."

    "We feel sorry to what happened yesterday, but I pledge that we will trail those who put their hands in the hands of the devil," Maliki told a gathering at a Baghdad university.

Iraqi official says most hostages released

The Iraqi higher education ministry's building in Baghdad. Photo Gallery >>>

    BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Officials still don't have a clear count of how many Iraqis were kidnapped on Tuesday by up to 80 gunmen disguised as Iraqi National Police from a Baghdad research institute, but an Interior Minstry official on Wednesday said most have been released, according to a CNN report.

    The official's statement was reinforced by a Al-Iraqiya station television report that also said most of the hostages had been released. The official said none of the hostages had been killed or tortured. Initial estimates were that 100 to 150 people were abducted, but that figure was reduced later.

    Higher Education Minister Abed Dhiyab al-Ajili, who personally reported the abduction to the Iraq Parliament shortly after it took place on Tuesday, has closed the nation's universities until security measures can be improved.

Mass kidnap by gunmen in Baghdad

    BEIJING, Nov. 15 -- Gunmen wearing uniforms of the Iraqi police commando units have rounded up dozens of men at a government building in central Baghdad. They then drove off. This may be the biggest mass kidnapping in a city increasingly used to such violence.

Gunmen abduct up to 150 Iraqi government staff in Baghdad

    BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhuanet) -- Gunmen wearing Iraqi police commando uniforms stepped up pressure on the country's educational system Tuesday by kidnapping up to 150 staff members from a government research institute in downtown Baghdad, according to the head of the parliamentary education committee.

    Alaa Makki interrupted a parliamentary session to announce between 100 and 150 people, both Shiites and Sunnis, had been abducted in the 9:30 a.m. raid. He urged the prime minister and ministers of interior and defense to rapidly respond to what he called a "national catastrophe." Makki added that he will close universities until security improves.