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Four Egyptians Kidnapped in Baghdad
Four Egyptians Kidnapped in Baghdad; U.S. Soldier Killed, Two Wounded
A man looks out of the front entrance of the headquarters of the Iraqna mobile phone operator in the Mansour area of Baghdad, Iraq Sunday, Feb. 6, 2005. Four Egyptians working for Iraqna were kidnapped Sunday when gunmen stopped their vehicle on their way to work in western Baghdad, Iraqi and Egyptian officials said. (AP Photo/Mohammed Uraibi)
By JASON KEYSER Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 6, 2005  Gunmen waylaid a minibus Sunday carrying foreign technicians to their jobs at a mobile telephone company in western Baghdad, seizing four Egyptians in the second kidnapping of foreigners in the Iraqi capital within a week.
The daylight ambush occurred only two days after gunmen grabbed an Italian woman journalist near Baghdad University, raising fears of a new wave of kidnappings after a decline in abductions since last year's capture of a rebel stronghold west of Baghdad.
Elsewhere, one U.S. soldier from Task Force Baghdad was killed and two others were wounded Sunday afternoon in a roadside bombing north of the capital, the U.S. command said. No further details were released.
Insurgents also killed two Iraqi National Guard soldiers Sunday and wounded three others in an ambush south of Baghdad. Two rockets exploded near Baghdad International Airport and a third slammed into an Iraqi National Guard building in a western suburb. There were no reports of casualties.
The violence has continued despite the Jan. 30 election, when Iraqis chose a new National Assembly in the first nationwide balloting since the fall of Saddam Hussein in April 2003.
A final tally is expected by Thursday, but initial returns point to a landslide by Shiite Muslim candidates endorsed by their clerics. Shiites are believed to comprise about 60 percent of Iraq's 26 million people.
On the other hand, many Sunni Arabs, estimated at 20 percent of the population and the core of the insurgency, are believed to have stayed home, either out of fear of rebel reprisal or because of a boycott call by Sunni clerics.
The four Egyptians were seized early Sunday near the Mansour district of western Baghdad, Egyptian and Iraqi officials said. They worked for Iraqna, a subsidiary of the Egyptian firm Orascom Telecommunications, which operates the mobile phone network in Baghdad and central Iraq.
Six other Egyptians working for Iraqna were kidnapped in two separate incidents in September. All were ultimately freed although Orascom said at the time that it was committed to continuing its work in Iraq.
'''February 7, 2005'''

Iraq
Iraq – With a strong lead in a pre-weekend partial report, Shi'a leaders have begun making known their interests in a Shiite Prime Minister. Others have spoken of the negotiations for the constitution. Grand Ayatollah Mohammed Ishaq al-Fayad is quoted saying the separation of religion and state must be "completely rejected."

"All of the Ulema (clergy) and Marja, and the majority of the Iraqi people, want the National Assembly to make Islam the source of legislation in the permanent constitution and to reject any law that is contrary to Islam," he said in his statement.

Vice President Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld spent the weekend on television shows and interviews assuring the U.S. public the Iraqi elections would not result in a theocracy for the country.

"We have a great deal of confidence in where they're headed," Mr. Cheney said on ''Fox News Sunday''. "I don't think, at this stage, that there's anything like justification for hand-wringing or concern on the part of Americans that somehow they're going to produce a result we won't like."

The violence of the insurgency, however, has returned after a brief lull following the elections whose final returns are expected in the coming week.

* 14 insurgents, 22 Iraqi police officers and soldiers were killed in an attack on a police station south of Baghdad.
* Four Egyptian telecom engineers were abducted.
* One U.S. soldier was killed and two injured by a roadside bomb north of Baghdad.
* One U.S. marine was killed south of Baghdad on Saturday.
* In a rocket attack, 2 missiles exploded near the Baghdad Airport, while a third struck an Iraqi National Guard building; no casualties were reported.
* On Friday, an Italian jounalist was abducted near Baghdad University.