Details Emerge Of Britons' Abduction
Updated: 15:49, Thursday May 31, 2007
US forces are continuing the search for five Britons who were kidnapped in Baghdad as more details of their abduction became clear.
While troops carried out searches in the Sadr City area of the city a funeral procession was held for two people allegedly killed by US forces while looking for the five men.
The Britons, four security guards and the computer expert they were guarding, were seized by up to 40 men in police uniform outisde the finance ministry.
It is still not clear who abducted the men - none of whom has been named publicly - or exactly why they were taken.
The brazen daylight kidnapping has been blamed on Shi'ite militas, possibly the Mehdi Army, which is loyal to radical preacher Moqtada al Sadr.
There is speculation that they were abducted in revenge for the killing by security forces this month of a senior figure in the Mehdi Army in Basra, which is where most of Britain's troops in Iraq are based.
A secret incident report about the abductions - written by Najwa Fatih-Allah, director general of the Finance Ministry's data processing centre, where the Britons were seized - quotes General David Petraeus, the US commander in Iraq, as saying the Mehdi Army "will be profoundly sorry" if it carried out the abductions.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the report also sheds more light on exactly how the kidnap happened.
The report says four men in civilian clothing appeared at the centre at about 10.45am Iraq time on Tuesday, 15 minutes before the kidnapping.
The account said the men claimed they were from the government anti-fraud commission and looked through each room in the centre, then quickly left the building.
At about 11am dozens of men in army and police uniforms burst into the building, disarmed guards and went straight to the room where the five Britons were working. The five were seized and rushed out of the building to 19 waiting four-wheel-drive vehicles. The convoy then drove away to the east, towards the Sadr City slum.
However, Mehdi Army members have told the AP news agency that searching Sadr City was likely to be pointless. They said their organisation, if involved, would have moved the Britons to locations outside Baghdad.
Tony Blair has said that everything possible will be done to secure the swift release of the five men.
:: More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since March 2003.
Raids To Find Kidnapped Britons
Hundreds of Iraqi and US troops have cordoned off sections of Baghdad's Sadr City slum and conducted a series of raids to find five kidnapped Britons.
Sadr City residents said they were woken by US armoured vehicles smashing down the ajoining walls of their homes.
"They started beating us and telling us to bring out the four Britons," said one resident.
British Embassy officials have also held ongoing talks with Iraqi officials to discuss the situation. Tony Blair said everything possible would be done to secure their release.
The four security guards and the computer expert they were guarding were seized by men dressed as police officers outside the Finance Ministry.
Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said: "We are offering help and assistance to the next of kin.
"It is not sensible at this stage to speculate as to what's happened. We're working closely with the Iraqi authorities to establish the facts. We are doing all we can to secure their swift and safe release."
Sky News foreign affairs editor Tim Marshall said it looked likey that the men had been seized by Shi'ite militiamen.
He said there was speculation that they could have been kidnapped in revenge for the killing of a senior member of the Shi'ite Mehdi Army militia by Coalition troops in Basra last week.
Abdul Mahdi al-Mutiri, a top official in Sadr's political movement, said the operation was too big for the Mehdi Army.
Marshall said it was likely that British special forces and the intelligence services would be involved in the search for them. He said: "This is very embarrassing for them because it shows how bad the situation is."
The kidnapping of the five Britons was reminiscent of an attack by Shi'ite militiamen, dressed as Interior Ministry commandos, who stormed the higher education ministry offices in November and snatched as many as 200 people, dozens of whom have never been found.
In the latest incident, about 40 heavily armed men snatched the five Britons and sped away in a convoy of 19 four-wheel-drive vehicles towards Sadr City, the Mehdi Army stronghold not far away.
The Mehdi Army is deeply embedded in the Iraqi security forces. It is thought to have been looking for a way to avenge the recent killing of the top operative in Basra.
A senior official in the Iraqi Interior Ministry confirmed the five were British and that Mehdi Army militiamen were believed responsible.
Major General Abdul-Karim Khalaf, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said the abduction was carried out by men wearing police uniforms who showed up at the Finance Ministry data collection facility in cars similiar to those used by police.
More than 200 foreigners and thousands of Iraqis have been kidnapped since March 2003.
The British Christian activist Norman Kember and Guardian journalist Rory Carroll were both snatched but later released.
Contractor Ken Bigley, from Liverpool, was beheaded by al Qaeda insurgents after spending several weeks in captivity, while aid worker Margaret Hussan was shot dead.
Iraq: Who Are The Kidnapped Britons?
A Canadian firm has confirmed that it employs the four British security guards who were kidnapped with their British client in Baghdad.
GardaWorld said it was working with the authorities to help secure the release of the five men
In a statement on its website it said: "GardaWorld is co-operating with local and international authorities to determine the facts of this incident and supporting recovery efforts.
"The four GardaWorld professionals are British citizens.
"We are working diligently with all appropriate personnel to bring positive resolution to the matter.
"At this stage the corporation neither disclose nor confirm any personal information, including names, ages, and where they are from in the UK."
Private security guards working in Iraq are often former members of the armed forces, especially those from elite regiments.
Although extremely dangerous, the job pays very well, with security personnel expected to pick up about £500 tax-free every day.
The fifth Briton to be seized - the man the other four were guarding - appears to have been working for an American company and is reportedly a computer expert.
Virginia-based BearingPoint, a management-consulting firm, said one of its workers had been abducted.
BearingPoint has been working in Iraq since 2003 on a US Agency for International Development-funded contract to support economic recovery. 
