Iranian Diplomat Abducted in Pakistan

[tekisui]

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — An Iranian diplomat was kidnapped Thursday in Peshawar near Pakistan's lawless tribal areas, one day after an American aid worker and his driver were killed in an ambush in the same city.

A Pakistani bodyguard for the diplomat was killed in the latest attack. The Iranian and his guard were driving over a narrow bridge when two armed men blocked their way with a car and opened fire, said Banaras Khan, a police investigator in Peshawar who cited a witness. The attackers dragged the diplomat into their car before fleeing.

The dusty, sprawling city of Peshawar, on the eastern edge of the tribal region bordering Afghanistan, was until recently considered relatively safe for foreigners. But residents say crime and militancy are on the rise, and the Iranian could have been kidnapped for ransom.

Pockets of the nearby tribal region have become a refuge for al-Qaeda and Taliban militants and the area is considered a possible hiding place for Osama bin Laden and his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri. Fighters use the northwestern region as a staging group for cross-border attacks on U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan as well as within Pakistan.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2008-11-13-pakistan_N.htm