The kidnapping this week of the United Arab Emirate's (UAE) charge d'affaires in BAGHDAD HAS brought home the realization that UAE diplomats are not immune to the fate of many other Arab diplomats who have fallen victim to kidnappers' mercy in war-torn Iraq.
Naji Rashid Al Nuaimi, 28, was kidnapped by gunmen on the night of May 16 while leaving another diplomat's house in the Mansour neighborhood of Baghdad. His Sudanese driver was shot to death by the abductors.
UAE officials, who confirmed the kidnapping, told reporters here that they were banking on Abu Dhabi's close ties with Iraq's Sunni leaders to help secure Nuaimi's release, but that they had not yet heard from the kidnappers.
UAE diplomats have in the past helped secure many other hostages' safe release through their contacts with the Sunnis.
In October, captors of two Indonesian women handed them directly to the UAE embassy in Iraq. The UAE was also instrumental in securing the release of two abducted Italian aid workers who had been threatened with execution in 2004.
Foreign minister Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan described the kidnapping of Nuaimi as difficult for his country. He blamed it on the growing security problem in Iraq, manifested in rising insurgency and sectarian violence.
Nuaimi's mother, speaking to Al Arabiya Television, expressed her shock at the kidnapping. She said that her son "loved the Iraqi people".
"He works to serve [Iraqis] ... please return my son," she cried.
Nuaimi's brother echoed his mother's sentiments and said that it was "ironic" that his brother, who has helped secure the release of other diplomats, should be kidnapped himself.
"The kidnappers should release the diplomat immediately," wrote the Gulf News daily in its May 18 editorial. "Their identity is not yet known, but they are without doubt the enemies of Iraq because the UAE presence in this country is aimed at helping its unfortunate people," the paper added.
Many Iraqi officials interviewed by UAE papers agreed.
"There is no country in the world that helps Iraq like the UAE does," said Adnan Al Pachachi, a member of the Iraqi Parliament. "The UAE helped Iraq in almost every field. Since the collapse of the regime, the UAE has been building hospitals in Baghdad and other cities in the south," he added.
He said that he believed that the kidnapping was not politically motivated and that the kidnappers, whom he called "gangsters", would probably seek ransom.
In the meantime, the safe return home of the young diplomat is the priority of the government, which is "working at the highest levels with the Iraqi government" to secure his release, according to the official news agency, WAM.
Nuaimi is one of at least six Arab embassy personnel who have been kidnapped since the fall of SADDAM HUSSEIN'S regime in 2003.
In July 2005 Al Qaeda kidnapped and later killed two Algerian diplomats and one Egyptian diplomat. Al Qaeda announced at the time that it had killed the Egyptian in retaliation for Cairo's intention to install an ambassador in Iraq.
Two Moroccan embassy staff had also disappeared in 2005 while driving to Iraq from Jordan. They have not been heard from since.
Whatever the kidnappers' motives, there is consensus here that the UAE is being wronged by such acts.
"This is unacceptable," said Iraq's former UN ambassador, Mohammad Al Douri, who has been living in exile in Dubai since 2003. "I hope those people realize that this is a wrongful and criminal act. The UAE is a brotherly country. Nobody in Iraq can accept this atrocity," he added.
UAE diplomat kidnapped in Iraq
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