At dawn this morning two Americans and a Briton working in Iraq were kidnapped from their home in Baghdad. Stephen Farrell, The Times Correspondent in Iraq, is at the scene and has spoken to local residents.
“The kidnapping happened at around six this morning outside the home where the three westerners had been staying for some months.
“According to local residents, two of the hostages were taken as they walked out of their home to turn on a generator.
“The hostage takers then went inside where they seized a third man who was working at a computer. The hostage takers where in a minibus and second, smaller vehicle. The whole episode was over in minutes and not a shot was fired.
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“One neighbour told me: ‘The kidnappers were clearly waiting for them because they moved in just as the two men walked up to the gate to turn on the generator. Everyone in the street knew they were Westerners.’
“The house they were taken from is in a very affluent area of Baghdad close to the heavily protected Green Zone, but is in a very vulnerable location because it is on a street corner and from the pavement you can lean over and touch the exterior wall.
“Neighbours said that the house normally has between two and four Iraqi or Arab security guards, but they weren’t in position in the hours of darkness before the raid. This has fuelled speculation they had been tipped off or at least warned to stay away.
“US forces have now sealed off the entire area and an investigation has started. From what local residents say the foreigners, who worked for a Gulf-based engineering contractor, had previously received more than one threat.
“One neighbour told me that a month and a half ago three Bulgarians had moved out of a house three doors up on the other side of the road after they had also received threats. Another local resident said the Westerners had drawn attention to themselves by driving big 4x4 vehicles.
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“This is not the first kidnapping to occur in this neighbourhood, but it is the first time Westerners have been taken from here. Residents said that in the last few months one local man who had been working for the US forces had been snatched and threatened but later released, and two school children had been kidnapped for ransom.”