Gunmen abduct senior official in Iraq

Baghdad, July 26 (IANS) Unidentified gunmen abducted the head of the Baghdad Provincial Council and four of his guards from his home here, a police source said Saturday.

The incident occurred Friday night when armed men in security uniforms stormed the house of Riyadh al-Adhadh in the Sunni district of Adhamiyah in north Baghdad, the source told Xinhua.

The gunmen, who claimed they were doing their duty, abducted al-Adhadh and his guards and took them to an unknown destination, the source said.

The Iraqi security forces have launched a probe into the incident, the source added.

Al-Adhadh, from the Mutahidoun political bloc led by former Sunni speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, was elected chairman of the Baghdad Provincial Council in June 2013.

In 2012, Adhadh was detained under terrorism charges but was set free months later after he was cleared by a court.