10 Sheiks working with U.S. in Iraq "nabbed in brazen daylight attack"

10 Sheiks working with U.S. in Iraq "nabbed in brazen daylight attack"

By Kim Gamel, The Associated Press. Posted October 29, 2007

Attack comes as Petraeus announces the terror group is "significantly reduced."

Gunmen in Baghdad snatched 10 Sunni and Shiite tribal sheiks from their cars Sunday as they were heading home to Diyala province after talks with the government on fighting Al Qaeda, and at least one was later found shot to death.

The bold daylight kidnapping came as the top U.S. commander in Iraq said the threat from the terror network has been “significantly reduced" in the capital.

A suicide car bomber, meanwhile, struck a busy commercial area in the oil-rich, northern city of Kirkuk, killing at least eight people and wounding 26, police said.

The two cars carrying the sheiks - seven Sunnis and three Shiites - were ambushed in Baghdad's predominantly Shiite neighbourhood of Shaab at about 3:30 p.m., police officials said.

The sheiks were returning to Diyala province after attending a meeting with the Shiite-dominated government's adviser for tribal affairs to discuss co-ordinating efforts against Al Qaeda in Iraq, police and a relative said.

Police found the bullet-riddled body of one of the Sunni sheiks, Mishaan Hilan, about 50 metres away from where the ambush took place, an officer said, adding that the victim was identified after his cellphone was found on him.

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