Two Algerian diplomats abducted in Baghdad

updated 3:45 p.m. ET July 21, 2005

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Two Algerian diplomats and their driver were dragged from their car by gunmen Thursday in Baghdad in the latest abductions apparently aimed at scaring off Muslim governments supporting the U.S.-backed Iraqi administration.

Gunmen in two cars stopped the vehicle carrying charge d'affaires Ali Belaroussi and another diplomat near the al-Sa'a restaurant in the upscale Mansour district, which is home to many embassies, and took the men away, police officials said.

Algeria's Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed the Thursday morning abduction, saying Belaroussi and diplomat Azzedine Belkadi had been kidnapped between the Algerian embassy and the embassy residence in Baghdad.

First abduction of Algerians in Iraq
The ministry said it had contacted the men's families and was following developments closely. It is the first abduction of Algerians in Iraq.

The attack came more than two weeks after gunmen ambushed three other top diplomats from Muslim countries in western Baghdad, all in apparent bids to scare off foreign governments and isolate Iraq from the Arab world.

Insurgent attacks elsewhere, including two suicide bombings aimed at the Iraqi army, killed at least 15 people, officials said.

Also Thursday, a U.S. sailor assigned to Regimental Combat Team 2, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force died of wounds from a July 15 bombing in Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, the military said in a statement.

At least 1,773 members of the U.S. military have died since the Iraq war started in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

Former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein, meanwhile, complained that he has not been allowed sufficient access to his lawyer in a new tape aired on Thursday by Dubai-based Al Arabiya.

First video of Saddam since criminal case released
Though video showing the former Iraqi leader has been released in the past, this was the first time he has been seen since the Iraqi Special Tribunal filed its first criminal case against him on Sunday.

Saddam and three other top officials are accused of involvement in the July 1982 massacre of an estimated 150 Shiites in the town of Dujail, in retaliation for a failed assassination attempt on him.

In political developments, Sunni Arabs decided to continue boycotting the committee drafting Iraq's new constitution, casting doubt on whether the group can meet a mid-August deadline to complete its work.

Kamal Hamdoun, one of the 12 remaining Sunnis appointed to the constitutional commission last month, said representatives of the minority wanted an international investigation into assassinations of two colleagues Tuesday and a greater role in drafting the constitution.

He also demanded that the chairman of the committee, Shiite cleric Humam Hammoudi, withdraw a statement made Wednesday that the final draft would be finished by the end of the month.

"Our decision is to go on with suspending our participation until our conditions are met," Hamdoun told The Associated Press.

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