Brazil engineer seized in Iraq is dead

BRASILIA, June 15 (Reuters) A Brazilian engineer who was kidnapped in Iraq in 2005 while working on a reconstruction project has been confirmed as dead, Brazil's Foreign Ministry said.

The remains of Joao Jose Vasconcellos were positively identified and the body has been sent home to Brazil, a ministry statement said yesterday.

The statement said the body had been identified through forensic tests but it gave no information on how or from whom the body was recovered.

More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. At least 60 foreign hostages have been killed.

Vasconcellos worked for the Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht repairing a power plant near the central Iraqi city of Beiji. He was kidnapped on January 19, 2005, on the way to the airport to fly back to Brazil after his convoy was attacked near Beiji.

Early reports said a group calling itself the Al Mujahideen Squadrons claimed responsibility for the ambush.

The abduction hit a nerve in Brazil, where many people were critical of the invasion of Iraq and were largely unaware any Brazilians were in the country.

Government officials, relatives, members of Brazil's Arab and Islamic communities, as well as sports stars and other celebrities, had made appeals for his freedom.

Reuters AKD VP0418