A French civilian has been taken hostage in Iraq. His name is Bernard Planche. He is reported to be a civil engineer helping to rebuild Iraq. This would be the fourth French hostage taken in Iraq since the beginning of the war.

Forbes:

Masked gunmen grabbed a French engineer off the streets of Baghdad on Monday, the latest in a spate of kidnappings of Westerners that coincides with Saddam Hussein's trial and the run-up to parliamentary elections. ...

French officials had also warned Planche, who was abducted from outside his home in the Mansour district of the capital, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Jean-Baptiste Mattei said.

The kidnappers used three cars to surrounded Planche and take him away, police Capt. Qassim Hussein said. Planche is the head of mission for a group that works on U.S.-funded water projects.

Diplomats have said they are in close contact with Iraqi authorities to win the release of the hostages.

See The Jawa Report's hostage page for more.

Developing...

Planche was in Iraq to work on water sanitation projects, much like American hostage Jeffrey Ake. He worked for AACCESS a U.N. recognized NGO and which was funded by the U.S. Army. Your mujahidin at work........

Posted by: Rusty at 02:23 PM | Comments (11) | Add Comment
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