Gunmen kidnap trade ministry official in Baghdad

BAGHDAD, Dec 26 (Reuters) Gunmen kidnapped a senior Trade Ministry official in Baghdad today after stopping his vehicle on his way to work, a ministry source said.

Muhanad Ahmed Saleh, director of the Baghdad International Fair, was abducted by gunmen in two vehicles shortly after he left his home in Amiriya, a Sunni district in western Baghdad.

No shots were fired.

Baghdad is plagued by kidnappings. Many are political abductions by armed groups on either side of Iraq's Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian violence. Some kidnappings are carried out by criminal gangs seeking extortion money.

REUTERS DKA HT1412