Gunmen wearing police commando uniforms abducted five British civilians from a Finance Ministry complex on Tuesday, British officials said. They seized a business consultant and his four bodyguards in an attack that revived questions about links between official security forces and criminal militias.
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The abduction occurred just before noon, when gunmen in a convoy of vehicles typically used by the police entered a guarded Finance Ministry complex in eastern Baghdad, took the civilians and left without firing a shot, according to witnesses and Iraqi officials. It was one of the most brazen, coordinated assaults on Western civilians at an Iraqi government building since the war started.
The ease of the attack amplified concerns that elements of
Iraq’s government may be playing a more active role in attacking Westerners — or at least allowing attacks to occur.
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At the same time, some American military officials in Baghdad have recently said that a majority of the Iraqi security forces they work with report to militia leaders and cannot be trusted. Commanders in western Baghdad said several roadside bombs aimed at American convoys have recently been found within view of Iraqi checkpoints ...
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