Four SAfricans kidnapped in Iraq

JOHANNESBURG, Dec 12 (Reuters) Four South African security workers have been kidnapped north of Baghdad and their whereabouts remain unknown, South Africa's Foreign Ministry said today.

Ministry spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa said the four, who have not been publicly identified, were kidnapped on Sunday when their convoy was stopped at a road block. Five Iraqis were also abducted, he said.

The men were employed by OSSI-Safenet security service, a sub-contractor for the US Department of Defence, Mamoepa said.

About 2,000 South Africans, many trained as soldiers in the apartheid-era military force, are believed to be working in the security sector in Iraq. Several have been killed there.

REUTERS SHB VV1720