Brazil engineer kidnapped in Iraq is dead -Brazil

BRASILIA, June 14 (Reuters) A Brazilian engineer who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2005 is dead, Brazil's Foreign Ministry said today.

The remains of Joao Jose Vasconcellos had been positively identified and the body has been sent home to Brazil, Brazil said. It was the first word of Vasconcellos' fate since the weeks following his disappearance in January 2005.

He worked for the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.

Reuters AKD VP0245