Abductions in Iraq a big business

Iraqi officials refuse to discuss publicly connections between specific groups, but the link between Fallujah, Haifa Street, and Tawhid and Jihad looks more suspicious with each additional incident. Privately, some officials say the working assumption is that Fallujah is the center of much of the kidnapping activity, but that proof is scant.

"Without a doubt the vast majority of these cases are carried out for money, it's become the business of organized crime," says Sabah Kadhim, spokesman for the Interior Ministry. "The problem is the more it is discussed, the higher the price goes up."

The Iraqi government has created an interagency working group to focus on the problem. In working with foreign officials, the Iraqis are encouraging as low a profile as possible for the cases - even though that can create political problems at home.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was harshly criticized for doing too little when an Italian journalist was kidnapped - and later killed - last month. Mr. Berlusconi took a different approach when the two Italian female aid workers were taken, dispatching ministers to Arab countries and asking Muslim leaders to intervene. Foreign Minister Franco Fratini plans to go on Arab satellite TV stations when he visits Qatar Wednesday.

That approach is more in line with what French officials did after two French journalists were kidnapped south of Baghdad last month. But France's highly publicized efforts have yet to bear fruit, as the two journalists remain captive. "If there's too high a profile to these cases, it can backfire," Mr. Kadhim says. "It needs quiet."

But even without proof of its actually happening, the Australian case has already caused a stir at home. With elections set for Oct. 9, Australia's involvement in Iraq has become a sharp political issue in a tight race.

Prime Minister John Howard said Tuesday: "We do not negotiate with terrorists, we do not bow to terrorists demands or threats."

Labor Party leader Mark Latham, Mr. Howard's chief rival in the election, says he agrees with the government's tough stance on terrorist demands. But at the same time he says Howard's decision to take part both in the Iraq war and in the postwar coalition has made Australia more of a target for terrorists.

Many Iraqis say they are troubled by the kidnapping of foreigners, but they also point out that the kidnapping of Iraqis has become an even bigger problem in terms of sheer numbers in the insecurity of the postwar.

Some of those cases are political - as when the two sons of the governor of Al Anbar governate were kidnapped earlier this summer. The sons were returned when the governor agreed to resign and renounce cooperation with the new Iraqi government.

But most are financially motivated crimes, officials say.

With the rise kidnappings - of Iraqis or foreigners, for political or monetary gain - Iraqi officials are pleading for help from around the world. "We're calling for a meeting of countries with expertise, even the interior ministers of the G-8 countries, to meet and share what they've learned about dealing with this," says Kadhim. "We need the help."

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