Felix the Cat
12-08-2005, 01:12 AM
Third Westerner kidnapped in Iraq (http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/meast/12/05/iraq.frenchhostage.reut/index.html)
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) -- Gunmen seized a French engineer from outside his home in Baghdad on Monday, beating their screaming victim as they hauled him to their getaway car, neighbors said.
It was the third kidnapping of Westerners in Iraq in 10 days, after a lull in such abductions in recent months.
French and Iraqi officials identified him as Bernard Planche, an employee of a non-governmental organization who worked at the Rusafa water treatment plant in eastern Baghdad.
In Paris, the French government confirmed Planche's disappearance and said it was working to secure his release.
"All the services of the French government are fully mobilized to ensure his release as quickly as possible," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters.
The Frenchman was snatched by seven gunmen in two cars as he prepared to leave his home on Monday morning in the upscale west Baghdad district of Mansour, police quoted witnesses as saying. Small pools of blood were left outside the gates of his house.
One neighbor told Reuters the gunmen hit a screaming Planche as they dragged him away, while witnesses looked on helpless. "The whole neighborhood watched and no one did anything to help him," the man, who declined to be named, said.
"The Frenchman had his hands in the air and was screaming."
Planche's kidnapping follows the abduction of German archaeologist and aid worker Susanne Osthoff on November 25 and that of four Christian peace activists -- two from Canada and one each from Britain and the United States -- the following day.
The recent spate of kidnappings comes after a drop-off in abductions of Westerners around Baghdad in recent months, as most cut back on all but essential travel around the capital.
Grisly beheadings
The French government -- which opposed the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 -- has taken strong measures to dissuade its citizens from venturing into Iraq following two kidnappings involving French journalists in 2004 and earlier this year.
Iraqi officials expelled a French freelance reporter from Iraq in June citing threats to her security, a decision the journalist said was taken at the French government's request. France, however, pinned the move on the Iraqi authorities.
Villepin on Monday reiterated his government's warning to French citizens against traveling to Iraq.
Previous French hostages were freed amid speculation of ransom payments, though the French government denied that too.
They included Liberation newspaper reporter Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi guide Hussein Hanun al-Saadi, who were held for more than 150 days before their release in June. French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot were released in December 2004 after four months in captivity.
Thousands of civilians have been kidnapped in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, including over 200 foreigners. Many fall victim to criminal gangs set on ransom but insurgent groups have also often demanded foreign forces quit Iraq.
Most foreign hostages have been released, but around 50 have been executed -- some by grisly beheadings in front of cameras.
The foreign hostages snatched in the past 10 days have all appeared in videos released by groups claiming to be part of the insurgency and shown on Al Jazeera television.
A previously unknown group calling itself "Swords of Truth" has threatened to kill the Christian peace activists unless Iraqi detainees are released by Thursday. The four work for Christian Peacemaker Teams, one of the few aid groups still operating in Iraq.
The group holding Osthoff and her Iraqi driver have said the hostages will die if Germany does not stop cooperating with the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad.
BAGHDAD, Iraq (Reuters) -- Gunmen seized a French engineer from outside his home in Baghdad on Monday, beating their screaming victim as they hauled him to their getaway car, neighbors said.
It was the third kidnapping of Westerners in Iraq in 10 days, after a lull in such abductions in recent months.
French and Iraqi officials identified him as Bernard Planche, an employee of a non-governmental organization who worked at the Rusafa water treatment plant in eastern Baghdad.
In Paris, the French government confirmed Planche's disappearance and said it was working to secure his release.
"All the services of the French government are fully mobilized to ensure his release as quickly as possible," Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin told reporters.
The Frenchman was snatched by seven gunmen in two cars as he prepared to leave his home on Monday morning in the upscale west Baghdad district of Mansour, police quoted witnesses as saying. Small pools of blood were left outside the gates of his house.
One neighbor told Reuters the gunmen hit a screaming Planche as they dragged him away, while witnesses looked on helpless. "The whole neighborhood watched and no one did anything to help him," the man, who declined to be named, said.
"The Frenchman had his hands in the air and was screaming."
Planche's kidnapping follows the abduction of German archaeologist and aid worker Susanne Osthoff on November 25 and that of four Christian peace activists -- two from Canada and one each from Britain and the United States -- the following day.
The recent spate of kidnappings comes after a drop-off in abductions of Westerners around Baghdad in recent months, as most cut back on all but essential travel around the capital.
Grisly beheadings
The French government -- which opposed the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003 -- has taken strong measures to dissuade its citizens from venturing into Iraq following two kidnappings involving French journalists in 2004 and earlier this year.
Iraqi officials expelled a French freelance reporter from Iraq in June citing threats to her security, a decision the journalist said was taken at the French government's request. France, however, pinned the move on the Iraqi authorities.
Villepin on Monday reiterated his government's warning to French citizens against traveling to Iraq.
Previous French hostages were freed amid speculation of ransom payments, though the French government denied that too.
They included Liberation newspaper reporter Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi guide Hussein Hanun al-Saadi, who were held for more than 150 days before their release in June. French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot were released in December 2004 after four months in captivity.
Thousands of civilians have been kidnapped in Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, including over 200 foreigners. Many fall victim to criminal gangs set on ransom but insurgent groups have also often demanded foreign forces quit Iraq.
Most foreign hostages have been released, but around 50 have been executed -- some by grisly beheadings in front of cameras.
The foreign hostages snatched in the past 10 days have all appeared in videos released by groups claiming to be part of the insurgency and shown on Al Jazeera television.
A previously unknown group calling itself "Swords of Truth" has threatened to kill the Christian peace activists unless Iraqi detainees are released by Thursday. The four work for Christian Peacemaker Teams, one of the few aid groups still operating in Iraq.
The group holding Osthoff and her Iraqi driver have said the hostages will die if Germany does not stop cooperating with the U.S.-backed government in Baghdad.