Militant Attacks Kill at Least 14 in Iraq

[Judi Lynn]

Militant Attacks Kill at Least 14 in Iraq
Thursday July 21, 2005 10:46 AM

AP Photo BAG136

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Two suicide car bombings and a string of other attacks in and around Baghdad Thursday killed 14 people, police and army officials said. Sunni Arabs also decided to continue boycotting the committee drafting Iraq's new constitution until their demands were met.

A suicide car bomber rammed into an Iraqi army checkpoint south of Baghdad, killing five soldiers in Mahmoudiyah, about 20 miles south of the capital. Several other soldiers were injured, according to army Lt. Odai al-Zeiadi.

A second Iraqi army checkpoint in the southern Baghdad suburb of Bueitha was also hit by a suicide car bomber, killing one soldier, al-Zeiadi said. Six soldiers were injured, he said.

Unidentified gunmen assassinated three members of the Qadisiyah provincial council as they were heading to an Internet cafe in the western neighborhood of Khadhra, said police 1st Lt. Mohammad Al-Hiyali.
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5156235,00.html

[Scurrilous]

1. Algerian Diplomat Kidnapped in Baghdad

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050721/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_diplomat;_ylt=AmUDu9S1VP_P7CCwu3E7SyCs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTA3b2NibDltBHNlYwM3MTY-

<snip>

"Algeria's top envoy to Iraq and his driver were abducted Thursday in a western Baghdad neighborhood, police and embassy employees said.

Police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the abduction took place Thursday afternoon in the Mansour district. They said they had no further information.

An embassy employee said by telephone that the chief of mission "was abducted 15 minutes ago" and that Algerian staff "have no further information."

Earlier this month, gunmen ambushed three other top diplomats from Muslim countries in western Baghdad, all in apparent bids to scare off foreign governments and isolate Iraq from the Arab world."