Allawi flees Shia mob as Frenchman abducted

A correspondent in Baghdad
December 06, 2005

AN angry crowd confronted Iraq's former prime minister, Iyad Allawi, at a Shia shrine in Najaf, south of the capital, forcing him to flee in a hail of stones and shoes. Dr Allawi called the attack an assassination attempt.

The clash was followed by the abduction yesterday by unidentified gunmen of a French engineer from outside his home as he on his way to work in Baghdad.

The kidnappers in three cars surrounded the man as he was getting into a car outside a house in the wealthy Mansour district. The man was on his way to work at the Risafa Water Plant, in the centre of the capital.

A photo identification card found at the scene was for Bernard Planche, the head of mission for AACCESS NGO, a group that works on US-funded water projects.

The confrontation in Najaf began when about a dozen men, some armed with clubs, tried to stop Dr Allawi entering the Imam Ali mosque, one of the holiest Shia shrines in Iraq. Dr Allawi's bodyguards fired shots in the air to disperse the crowd.

Once Dr Allawi and his entourage were inside, the crowd grew to about 60 and as the group left, they were showered with stones and shoes, a sign of contempt in Iraqi culture.

Dr Allawi and his security force knocked over barricades as they scampered back to their vehicles and sped away.

Dr Allawi later said the group was armed with pistols, knives and swords and that at least seven shots were fired from the crowd.

"They were planning to kill the whole delegation, or at least me," he told reporters.

Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari told CNN that it was unclear whether the incident was an assassination attempt "or just a disruption by the angry crowd, who might not agree with Dr Allawi's policy".

Dr Allawi, a secular Shi'ite , is a candidate for parliament in the December 15 election, running at the head of a broad-based ticket that includes several prominent Sunni Arabs. When he was prime minister, US and Iraqi troops seized control of Najaf from the firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. Many Shi'ites have not forgiven Dr Allawi for his role in the assault, and many in the crowd of attackers were believed to be followers of Sadr. Dr Allawi is a former member of Saddam's Baath party.

Tensions are running high across Iraq before the election, during which Iraqis will choose a parliament to serve for a four-year term. A coalition of Shia parties is expected to win the largest share of the 275 seats.

In other violence, gunmen killed a Shia parliamentary candidate and an Iraqi police commander in separate attacks. A bomb also detonated as a police patrol passed through central Baghdad, killing three civilians.

AP

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