Gunmen kidnap 15 members of Iraq martial art squad

BAGHDAD, May 18 (Reuters) Iraq's government is hoping to secure the release of 15 members of a martial art squad who were kidnapped in an insurgent stronghold region west of Baghdad, a senior official said today.

Gunmen abducted the tae kwondo experts near the city of Ramadi yesterday as they were travelling by bus to neighbouring Jordan to attend a training course, an official of the Youth and Sports Ministry said. The driver was also seized.

''We are trying to establish contact with the kidnappers to secure their release,'' Abdul Karim al-Basri told Reuters.

He did not give details, but said a ransom was paid to help free Iraq's Olympic Committee Director-General Teres Odesho after he was kidnapped north of Baghdad last year.

''We managed to free him by paying a ransom,'' Basri said, adding he had been held for three days.

Ramadi is the capital of Anbar province, a hotbed of the Sunni Arab insurgency against the Shi'ite-led government and its US backers.

Thousands of Iraqis and more than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Tae kwondo, a Korean martial art, was made an Olympic sport ahead of the 2000 Games in Sydney.

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