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Militant video shows abducted American in Iraq

06 February 2010 23:28 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. Shiite militants kidnapped an Iraqi-American contractor after luring him into central Baghdad with promises of visiting distant relatives, an Iraqi defense official said Saturday, after a video apparently showing the man surfaced online, APA reports citing â€œAssociated Pressâ€.

The U.S. Department of Defense said Friday that American contractor Issa T. Salomi, 60, went missing Jan. 23 in Baghdad and that search and recovery efforts were under way, but it released no other details. The U.S. military in Baghdad on Saturday confirmed Salomi is missing but would not provide additional information.

In the video, the man â€” who did not identify himself â€” says his abductors from the League of the Righteous are demanding the release of militants and the prosecution of Blackwater security contractors accused of killing 17 Iraqis in 2007 in Baghdad.

There was no way to verify the authenticity of the video, but a high-ranking Iraqi defense official told The Associated Press that Salomi was the man in the video and that he was abducted by the militant group in the central Baghdad district of Karradah. The official said Salomi is of Iraqi origin and that his abductors lured him to Karradah under the pretense of visiting distant relatives.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information.

The Department of Defense said the missing contractor is from El Cajon, California.