Gunmen abduct trade ministry official in Iraq

Muhanad Ahmed Saleh, director of the Baghdad International Fair, was abducted by gunmen in two vehicles shortly after he left his home in Amiriya.

Gunmen abducted a senior trade ministry official in Baghdad on Tuesday after stopping his vehicle on his way to work, a ministry source said.

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Muhanad Ahmed Saleh, director of the Baghdad International Fair, was abducted by gunmen in two vehicles shortly after he left his home in Amiriya, a Sunni district in western Baghdad. No shots were fired.

Baghdad is plagued by kidnappings. Many are political abductions by armed groups on either side of Iraq's Shi'ite-Sunni sectarian violence.

Some kidnappings are carried out by criminal gangs seeking extortion money.