Who kidnapped the two Italian aid workers?

CAIRO, September 16 (IslamOnline.net) – A leading British daily Thursday, September 16, cast heavy doubts on the identity of kidnappers that snatched two Italian aid workers in Baghdad days ago, citing clear differences in the style of carrying out the operation.

The Guardian said the kidnapping of Simona Torretta and Simona Pari has the mark of an undercover foreign operation in a bid to discredit the unabated Iraqi resistance against US occupation forces.

To prove such a foreign mark, the paper cited differences between the usual abduction operations by local Iraqi groups and the unusual, rather daring, snatching of Torretta and Pari in the war-torn country.

The Simonas were hunted down from their home by bare-faced and clear-shaven kidnappers, some of whom wore business suits, in a clear contrast with abduction operations conducted by Iraqi resistance men who used to hide their identities and cover their faces in scarves, the British daily said.

It further said the abduction of the two Italians was carried out by 20 armed men in broad daylight as if they were unconcerned about being caught, contrary to the usual kidnappings in Iraq which are usually carried out by three or four fighters.

The mass-circulation newspaper adds more suspicion on foreign involvement in the operation as it was carried out only few meters from the heavily patrolled Green Zone with no interference from Iraqi police or US military.

The Guardian maintains that the weapons used in the operation were more sophisticated than those usually used by the Iraqi resistance as the kidnappers used AK-47s, shotguns and pistols with silencers and stun guns, while the Iraqi resistance fighters always use the rusty Kalashnikovs.

Most striking, according to the British daily, the kidnappers wore Iraqi National Guard uniforms and identified themselves as working for [Iraqi Prime Minister] Iyad Allawi.

The Iraqi Premier himself is a lifelong spy who has worked with MI6, the CIA and the mukhabarat, specializing in killing off enemies of the regime, the paper said.

“An Iraqi government spokesperson denied that Allawi's office was involved. But Sabah Kadhim, a spokesperson for the interior ministry, conceded that the kidnappers "were wearing military uniforms and flak jackets".

“So was this a kidnapping by the resistance or a covert police operation? Or was it something worse: a revival of Saddam's mukhabarat disappearances, when agents would arrest enemies of the regime, never to be heard from again? Who could have pulled off such a coordinated operation - and who stands to benefit from an attack on this anti-war NGO?”

Threatened Before Abduction

The paper further recalled how the Italian press began two days ago to report on one possible answer for these questions.

It also cited how Sheikh Abdul Salam Al-Kubaisi, from Iraq's leading Sunni scholars organization, told reporters in Baghdad that he received a visit from Torretta and Pari the day before the kidnap.

“They were scared,” the scholar said. “They told me that someone threatened them.” Asked who was behind the threats, al-Kubaisi replied: “We suspect some foreign intelligence,” the paper quoted him as telling reporters.

“Blaming unpopular resistance attacks on CIA or Mossad (Israeli intelligence) conspiracies is idle chatter in Baghdad, but coming from Kubaisi, the claim carries unusual weight; he has ties with a range of resistance groups and has brokered the release of several hostages.

“Kubaisi's allegations have been widely reported in Arab media, as well as in Italy, but have been absent from the English-language press.

“Western journalists are loath to talk about spies for fear of being labeled conspiracy theorists. But spies and covert operations are not a conspiracy in Iraq; they are a daily reality.

“According to CIA deputy director James L Pavitt, “Baghdad is home to the largest CIA station since the Vietnam war”, with 500 to 600 agents on the ground.”

The two Italian hostages, working for the Italian charity Un Ponte Per Baghdad (Bridge to Baghdad), were kidnapped on September 7.

Click to read The Guardian article…

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