Gunmen kidnap dozens in central Baghdad

BAGHDAD – Gunmen in military uniforms kidnapped dozens of people yesterday from a major commercial area in central Baghdad, the second mass abduction in the capital in a month.

The attackers drove up to the busy al-Sanak area in about 10 sport utility vehicles and began rounding up shop owners and bystanders. Two police officers said 50 to 70 people were abducted, but the Interior Ministry declined to give a number, saying it was still being investigated.Elsewhere in Baghdad, a suicide car bomber slammed into an Iraqi army check point, killing a soldier and a civilian and wounding nine other people at 10:45 a.m, police said.Five bodies, including one who was beheaded, also were found in two different areas south of the capital.The violence underscores the difficulties the Iraqi government faces after it unveiled a plan to assume responsibility for security in Baghdad, allowing US forces to move to the periphery of the capital, by early next year.US Senator John McCain said yesterday that America should deploy 15 000 to 30 000 more troops in Iraq to control its sectarian violence and give moderates within the Iraq’s democratically elected government the stability they need to take the country in the right direction.”The American people are disappointed and frustrated with the Iraq war, but they want us to succeed if there’s any way to do that,” McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, said at a news conference with the other legislators at the US Embassy in Iraq’s heavily fortified Green Zone.The al-Sanak area – one of the capital’s main commercial districts – holds stores selling auto spare parts, agricultural equipment and the small power generators that are ubiquitous in Baghdad due to severe power shortages.Nampa-APTwo police officers said 50 to 70 people were abducted, but the Interior Ministry declined to give a number, saying it was still being investigated.Elsewhere in Baghdad, a suicide car bomber slammed into an Iraqi army check point, killing a soldier and a civilian and wounding nine other people at 10:45 a.m, police said.Five bodies, including one who was beheaded, also were found in two different areas south of the capital.The violence underscores the difficulties the Iraqi government faces after it unveiled a plan to assume responsibility for security in Baghdad, allowing US forces to move to the periphery of the capital, by early next year.US Senator John McCain said yesterday that America should deploy 15 000 to 30 000 more troops in Iraq to control its sectarian violence and give moderates within the Iraq’s democratically elected government the stability they need to take the country in the right direction.”The American people are disappointed and frustrated with the Iraq war, but they want us to succeed if there’s any way to do that,” McCain, a 2008 presidential hopeful, said at a news conference with the other legislators at the US Embassy in Iraq’s heavily fortified Green Zone.The al-Sanak area – one of the capital’s main commercial districts – holds stores selling auto spare parts, agricultural equipment and the small power generators that are ubiquitous in Baghdad due to severe power shortages.Nampa-AP