Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Al-Qaida threatens to kill captured Egyptian diplomatAl-Qaida threatens to kill captured Egyptian diplomat
Rory Carroll
Thursday July 7, 2005
The Guardian
Al-Qaida in Iraq threatened to kill a kidnapped Egyptian envoy yesterday and posted pictures of his identification cards on the internet to prove he was in its custody.
The group, headed by the Jordanian-born militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said there would be no mercy for Ihab al-Sherif, 51, who was snatched in Baghdad last Saturday.
"The sharia court of al-Qaida organisation in Iraq has decided to hand over the apostate, the ambassador of Egypt which is allied to Jews and Christians, to the mujahideen to carry out the punishment of the apostate ... and to kill him," said a web statement attributed to the group.
There was no way to verify the statement, but an earlier posting exhibited the front and back of five ID cards in Mr Sherif's name as well as his Egyptian driving licence and a foreign ministry card showing his photograph.
It raised the spectre of the diplomat sharing the fate of Kenneth Bigley, the British engineer captured and beheaded by the group last year.
Mr Sherif leads Egypt's mission in the Iraqi capital and was due to be made an ambassador as part of an upgrade in diplomatic relations between the two countries.
Diplomats from Bahrain and Pakistan escaped ambushes on Tuesday in what appeared to be a concerted effort to drive out envoys and isolate the Iraqi government.
Pakistan's ambassador flew to Jordan yesterday after being ordered to leave Iraq by his government.
Iraq's prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, urged others to hold their nerve. "We hope all countries will stand beside us to bolster the democratic process and continue to carry out their political work in Iraq, mindful of security procedures."
A US embassy spokesman echoed the call: "It's no secret Iraq is a dangerous place. We believe it's important for the international community to show support for the Iraqis by establishing and maintaining a diplomatic presence."
Meanwhile, four police officers were killed and nine injured in separate attacks yesterday, and the US military announced that a bomb had killed an American soldier on Tuesday.
