Iraqi official denies Russians released

BAGHDAD, June 4 (Reuters) An Iraqi Interior Ministry official denied a state television report today that four Russian embassy employees kidnapped in Baghdad had been released.

''They are still abducted,'' the official told Reuters, declining to be named.

A Russian embassy employee in Baghdad was killed on Saturday and four other embassy staff were kidnapped when gunmen blocked their vehicle in the capital's western Mansour district.

A spokesman for the Russian embassy in Baghdad said he had heard the media report about their release but that he had received no confirmation from Iraqi authorities.

''There is no confirmation, just rumours,'' he said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry identified the dead embassy employee as Vitaly Titov. It said those kidnapped included a third secretary at the mission, Fyodor Zaitsev.

Yesterday, police sources said they had been rescued by special forces but a police official dismissed that report on Sunday.

REUTERS SK BD1937