Kidnapping in Iraq on the rise

Upon Rhandi's return, most of the family fled to Dohuk, in northern Iraq, in the formerly Kurdish autonomous region, where crime never spiraled out of control the way it has done here.

"Everyone is afraid to let their children outside," says Nissan, who has lived in Baghdad for the past half century. "This is the first time we've ever seen this happen. During Saddam's time, there was no such thing."

Of course, Hussein's regime was famous for its own frightening abductions, usually of political opponents or other suspects who were picked up by state intelligence police. Many of those missing have turned up in mass graves.

But the culture of fear under the Baathist regime, Iraqis say, kept random crime at a minimum - and meant that average women and children were rarely targets.

At the Iman beauty salon, nestled between two other shops that served as makeover row before the war, owner Iman Ibrahim says business is nonexistent. On three different occasions since the fall of Hussein's regime, she says, armed men have burst into her salon and abducted a woman.

When there is an occasional knock at the locked door, she peeks through the blinds before deciding to let anyone in. "This isn't normal. I want to sell the shop, but who will buy it?" she asks

Maruf Mohammed, who waited for his sister at the salon because of the lack of security, says that his mother was almost abducted last month as they walked together on the street.

"A van came by while we were on our way home, and they grabbed my mother's arm and tried to drag her inside," he says. Maruf says he held on to his mother even as one of the men in the van tried to drag her away - and eventually let go.

The report released by Centurion, which is working in Iraq, says that overall security in Iraq is worsening, with kidnapping a particular problem. The report notes that kidnapping has often followed other conflicts in places like Afghanistan, Bosnia, and Chechnya, with opportunists looking for a quick way to make money.

Several families who acknowledged being victims of kidnappings and abduction attempts declined to be interviewed during visits to their homes, fearing additional problems. Yanar Mohammed, head of the Organization of Women's Freedom in Iraq, says that there has also been a sharp increase of abductions of women, but that many such crimes are not reported.

"It's hard to get statistics and reports from the police. They have instructions not to give us information," says Ms. Mohammed, who returned to her native Iraq after eight years in Canada. "My understanding is that we are living in a postwar paradise, and the police don't want things to look bad for the Americans and the chaos caused after they came here."

Gen. Hassan Ali, the chief of police in Baghdad, says that on the contrary, the security situation will improve as more Iraqis turn to the police for help. "I announced on television that people who are victims of these crimes must come and complain to the police, and they have started to come," he says. "I think the situation is getting better. Crimes are decreasing."

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