Egypt Embassy Worker Kidnapped in Iraq

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- An Egyptian embassy worker was kidnapped Monday in Baghdad while on a trip outside the compound, an Iraqi foreign ministry official said.

In Cairo, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alaa Hadidi confirmed that the man did not show up to work and said the ministry was in contact with Iraqi authorities to learn his fate. He did not give the name of the worker.

The embassy worker did not return to the embassy hours after he left, the Iraqi Foreign Ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Repeated calls to the Egyptian Embassy were unanswered.

Several diplomats have been kidnapped and killed in recent years. Embassies such as the Turkish and Jordanian missions also were targeted by car bombs after the U.S. invasion in 2003.

In July 2005, al-Qaida in Iraq kidnapped and killed Egyptian diplomat Ihab al-Sherif in an apparent campaign to prevent Arab and Islamic countries from strengthening ties with the Iraqi government. Al-Qaida said it killed al-Sherif because Egypt intended to install a full ambassador in Iraq. Two Algerian diplomats were kidnapped the same month and al-Qaida said they were killed.