4 Egyptians Abducted in Baghdad

Gunmen waylaid a minibus Sunday carrying technicians to their jobs at a mobile telephone company in western Baghdad, seizing four Egyptians in the second kidnapping of foreigners in the Iraqi capital in a week.

The Egyptians worked for Iraqna, a subsidiary of the Egyptian firm Orascom Telecom, which operates the mobile phone network in Baghdad and central Iraq.

Six other Egyptians working for Iraqna were kidnapped in two separate incidents in September. All were freed, and Orascom said at the time that it was committed to continuing its work in Iraq.

No group claimed responsibility for Sunday’s abduction.

On Friday, Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena was kidnapped by gunmen who blocked her car outside Baghdad University. Sgrena, 56, is a veteran reporter for the communist daily newspaper Il Manifesto.

A group calling itself the Islamic Jihad Organization claimed Friday to have kidnapped the woman and gave Italy 72 hours to withdraw its troops from Iraq. But it made no threats to kill her and did not say what would happen if its demands were not met.

In a statement posted on the Internet on Sunday, the purported kidnappers said they still were interrogating Sgrena and had given the Italian government a final warning to withdraw its troops.

North of the capital, one U.S. soldier from Task Force Baghdad was killed and two others were wounded in a roadside bombing, the U.S. military said. No details were released.