Gunmen abducted a local staffer working for the United Nations in Iraq as police found eight bodies in different parts of the capital, Baghdad, authorities said.
Eliana Nabaa, a spokeswoman for the UN mission, said the man was kidnapped in the city of Baquba, the capital of eastern Diyala province in northern Iraq.
She added that Sunday’s abduction took place near the government headquarters and that the UN is working with authorities to recover him.
According to Associated Press, a local security official said the man was grabbed from his car during the day. The victim’s brother said the family has received a $100,000 ransom demand for the staffer’s release.
Kidnapping for ransom and over political issues has long been rife in Iraq.
Elsewhere on Tuesday eight bodies with gunshot wounds to their heads and chests were found in different parts of two Sunni-majority neighborhoods in western Baghdad, police said. Officers said they found no IDs with the bodies, which were discovered in the Jihad and Ghazaliyah neighbourhoods.
Dead bodies left in the street were a common occurrence during the widespread sectarian violence that engulfed Iraq several years ago.
All officials and relatives of the kidnapped UN staffer spoke on condition of anonymity, because they are not authorised to speak to journalists for fear of reprisals.
