Baghdad, Iraq (AHN) - Approximately 50 sports officials and athletes were kidnapped by gunmen during a meeting in central Baghdad. Among those who were abducted includes the head of Iraq's Olympic Committee.
Police reported that the gunmen in question were driving three government vehicles wearing police uniforms when they broke into the cultural center.
Ahmed al-Hijiya, president of the committee, was abducted along with his bodyguards and 30 athletes during a conference in Karradah, a Shia neighborhood in Baghdad. Others who were kidnapped include the deputy head of the Olympic committee, Ammar Jabbar al-Saadi, the chairman of the Taekwondo Federation, Jamal Abdul-Karim, and the chief of the Boxing Federation, Bashar Mustafa.
Faleh Francis, who is the director of sports medicine, was also reported to be missing but state television confirmed that he was not part of the group.
The seizure of Iraq's Olympic officials comes after Iraq's national wrestling team dropped a tournament in the United Arab Emirates following the killing of their coach in Baghdad. The Sunni coach, Mohammed Karim Abid Sahib, was captured along with a wrestler as they were leaving the sports center in Kazimiyah. He was shot to death while attempting a get-away. The wrestler, however, managed to escape.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7004256499 
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