Gunmen Kidnap Senior Iraqi Official in Baghdad; Five More Americans Killed

[steve2470]

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGB6Z9A18CE.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - Gunmen kidnapped a senior Interior Ministry official in the heart of the Iraqi capital Wednesday, and the U.S. military reported that five more American soldiers had been killed.

The latest violence came as Iraqi politicians intensified talks to try to meet a Monday deadline for finalizing a constitution.

Brig. Gen. Khudayer Abbas, chief of the administrative affairs office in the Interior Ministry, was dragged from his car on Andalus Square and spirited away in another vehicle, according to police Maj. Abbas Mohammed Salman.

No group claimed responsibility. The Interior Ministry supervises police and elite paramilitary units that are at the forefront of the fight against insurgents.

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