Special Report: Tension escalates in Iraq
Special Report: Execution of
Saddam
BAGHDAD, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- A convoy of Iraqi Sunni
Muslim pilgrims who are returning form Hajj in Saudi Arabia was kidnapped by
gunmen disguised as police on Tuesday, Qatar-based pan-Arabic television channel
al-Jazeera reported.
"The convoy was seized by Iraqi security vehicles and
headed to unknown direction," Alaa Maki, a lawmaker from the Iraqi Consensus
Front, a Sunni parliament bloc, told the channel.
Maki said that four Sunni clerics were separated earlier
from convoy, which was headed to Sunni Ameriyah area in Baghdad.
"Dozens of pilgrims were at the vehicles of the convoy and
some of them were calling us by their cellphones since the dawn, saying they
were escorted by military vehicles and they don't know where they were heading,"
Maki said.
"They said 'Help us. We are kidnapped' before their
calls were cut," he added.
As for the four clerics, he said that they were
seized earlier and their destiny is not known.
Maki held the government full responsibility for the
safe of the four clerics and the convoy, warning that the incident will lead to
a "political disaster".
The Iraqi government and interior ministry did not
immediately confirm the incident.