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US death toll in Iraq nears 2004 level
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-31 18:11
At least 17 people were killed in shootings, mortar attacks and a suicide car
bombing in Baghdad on Friday. In the most serious incident, police said nine
people were killed in a drive-by shooting ¡ª apparently because they were
drinking alcohol in public. Two Iraqi army captains were also gunned down in the
town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, as they drove home.
A senior Sudanese diplomat said his country closed its embassy in Baghdad in
an effort to win the release of six kidnapped employees ¡ª including one
diplomat.
"A statement was issued by the Sudanese government to close the embassy in
Iraq to win the release of our kidnapped citizens," Charge d'affairs Mohamed
Ahmed Khalil told The Associated Press. He added that the embassy's 12 employees
would leave Monday.
Al-Qaida in Iraq had threatened Thursday to kill five Sudanese on Saturday
unless the country removed its diplomatic mission from Iraq.
The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported on Dec. 24 that six of its embassy
employees were kidnapped ¡ª including the mission's second secretary, Abdel
Moneam Mohammad Tom. It was not clear if the al-Qaida statement was referring to
the same group.
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