A Shiite extremist group has claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of a Iraqi-American contractor who went missing in Baghdad Jan. 23. Shiite militiamen lured him into a trap by promising to help him find distant relatives, an Iraqi defense official said today. The militants posted a video online that shows a man wearing military fatigues reading a list of demands that includes the release of militants, the prosecution of Blackwater guards and an immediate American troop withdrawal.
A high-ranking Iraqi defense official and an American intelligence official identified the man in the video as Issa T. Salomi, the 60-year-old missing contractor from El Cajon, California. A US intelligence official said initial investigations indicated Salomi was abducted by criminals for revenge or money.
(More Issa T. Salom stories.)