BBC NEWS
Mass abduction at Baghdad factory Gunmen have abducted at least 80 Iraqi factory workers from a fleet of buses just north of Baghdad, officials say. The abduction took place at a state-owned factory complex at Taji where dozens of insurgents commandeered buses taking employees home after work. A source quoted by Reuters news agency said the number of those kidnapped was at least 100 and possibly many more. It is the latest of a series of mass abductions of workers in Iraq, many of whom have been ransomed or killed. The workers were taken from two factories - the Nasr and Hattin facilities - at the Taji industrial complex, police told the BBC. The area is predominantly Sunni Arab, but most of the workers at the two factories were thought to be Shias, the Associated Press news agency reported. Kamel Mohammed, an engineer working at the plant, told AP that he saw two of the plant's buses and a minivan intercepted by gunmen in three cars. The factory vehicles transport workers back to Shia neighbourhoods of Baghdad, he said. The gunmen also forced other workers leaving the plant in their own cars to get out and into the buses, he added. The factories were reportedly used to manufacture armaments under Saddam Hussein, but have now been converted to make products for civilian use. Taji also hosts a major military base, that was once used by Iraq's armed forces and is now home to US troops. Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/5103358.stm Published: 2006/06/21 16:18:38 GMT © BBC MMVI ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Great things are happening at Yahoo! Groups. See the new email design. http://us.click.yahoo.com/do.u8A/hOaOAA/Zx0JAA/uTGrlB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Post message: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe : [EMAIL PROTECTED] List owner : [EMAIL PROTECTED] Homepage : http://proletar.8m.com/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/proletar/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
