Iraq Watch: July 19, 2006

Sunnis Kidnapped; Violence Continues

Militants abducted at least 20 members of the government-affiliated Sunni Endowment the agency announced in a statement Wednesday.

The employees were kidnapped in northern Baghdad as they were on their way to Taji. The Sunni Endowment – charged with protecting and preserving Sunni mosques throughout Iraq – also announced that it is ceasing all operations until further notice.

The organization, led by Ahmed Abdul Ghafour al-Samaraie, blamed Shiite militias for the mass abduction saying the kidnapping had a "sectarian smell."

In eastern Baghdad a bomb exploded near a vegetable market killing at least six people while in the capital city's western Mansour district insurgents assassinated Maj. Gen. Fakhir Abdul-Hussein Ali, a legal-counsel to the Interior Ministry.

Meanwhile, AFP reports that Iraqi authorities discovered 19 executed bodies across Iraq on Wednesday.

Also Wednesday, one Salvadoran soldier was killed and another wounded in a roadside bomb attack near the southern city of Kut.