Iranian Difficulties in Iraq

Seems the Iranians aren't being very careful.

BAGHDAD, Tuesday, Feb. 6 — An Iranian diplomat was abducted Sunday evening when his convoy was stopped by men with official Defense Ministry identification in the Karrada neighborhood here, senior Iraqi and American officials said Monday.

Iraqi security forces captured several suspects after pursuing their vehicles through the streets of Baghdad, two of the Iraqi officials said.

The vehicle with the diplomat was not caught, though.

And

The abduction of the Iranian took place in a largely Shiite section of the city not far from where a truck bomb killed at least 135 people on Saturday and where residents have complained that the slow pace of the increase in American troops has left them open to attacks.

The men captured in the chase by Iraqi forces on Sunday were Iraqis with Defense Ministry identification, Iraqi and American officials said, raising serious questions about whether government forces themselves were involved in the abduction.

A senior Iraqi official said that the credentials initially appeared to be genuine but that investigators later received conflicting information about whether the men had been dismissed from the ministry but somehow kept their identification.

Looks like the Sunni's may be increasing their sophistication on taking on the Iranian influences. If the dismissed ministry personnel were allowed to keep their IDs, it makes you wonder what other sloppiness the Iraqi government has allowed.

Also makes you wonder how US troops treat Iraqi forces that come up to them. Especially after the attempted kidnapping and murder of US troops recently by forces that are thought to have been related to Iranian activities.