Iraq: Italian journalist kidnapped

Today in Bagdad, an Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena, employed by the Roman journal 'Il Manifesto', has been kidnapped, Italian press agency ANSA said. This has been confirmed by the Italian embassy in Iraq.

A group of armed men stopped the journalist in the nearby of Bagdad university and, threating her with weapons, took her to their car. Sgrena was going to interview refugees from Fallujah, who meet in the sunnitan mosque al-Kastl.

info.onet.pl...
(in Polish)

False flag, not a doubt in my mind. The journalist was working for Il Manifesto right?
"A daily paper with decidedly leftist leanings published in Rome. It has always been very political and is currently undergoing financial difficulties." - This according to the list of Italian Newspapers. The Il Manifesto website was down when I tried it, but I imagine they are in the process of being purged. Their archives could carry a federal rap under new federal laws against 'news gathering.' So I'd watch out if I were researching it.

Interviewing refugees from Fallujah not pre-approved by the occupation can also be hazardous to your health.

Notice how the Iraqi policemen wear masks like the terrorists? Lots of them drive around, four to a beat up car, just like the terrorists. They carry the same guns, speak the same language, etc. etc. I bet a dollar not a single person on this site could accurately visually distinguish a terrorist from an Iraqi policeman.

Italy works for hostage's release

Italy is scrambling to secure the release of an Italian woman journalist kidnapped at gunpoint in Baghdad on Friday, as her purported abductors gave Rome 72 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq.

Sgrena was snatched in broad daylight near Baghdad University, minutes after she called the Rome bureau of her newspaper to say that she was safe.

"We give the Italian government 72 hours to recall its troops from Iraq or else we will communicate other messages to you," said a statement posted on the internet in the name of the so-called Islamic Jihad Organisation.

"The journalist's kidnapping is nothing other than a message to the Italian government, led by Prime Minister Berlusconi that you will never be secure as long as you have a soldier in Iraq," it added.

Sent to Baghdad to cover Sunday's elections, Sgrena was described by colleagues as an Arabic-speaking feminist with a passionate interest in Islam.

source:
english.aljazeera