US Embassy says several Americans missing in Iraq

The U.S. Embassy confirmed on Jan. 17 that "several" Americans had gone missing in Iraq, after local media reported that three Americans had been kidnapped in the Iraqi capital.

U.S. Embassy spokesman Scott Bolz said, "We are working in full cooperation with Iraqi authorities to locate the missing Americans."

Bolz did not identify the missing Americans or say what they were doing in Iraq.

U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said that "due to privacy considerations" he had nothing further to add about the missing Americans. "The safety and security of Americans abroad is our highest priority," Kirby said.

"We are aware of reports that American citizens are missing in Iraq," Kirby said. "We are working with the full cooperation of the Iraqi authorities to locate and recover the individuals."

The comments by U.S. officials came after the Arab news channel, al-Arabiya, citing its own sources, reported that three Americans had been kidnapped by militias in Baghdad.

Iraqi media reports said the Americans went missing in south Baghdad on their way to Baghdad International Airport. A Western security official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media, said Jan. 17 that he had been told that three Americans went missing 24 to 48 hours ago.

A group of Americans who went missing over the weekend in Iraq were kidnapped from their interpreter's home in Baghdad, according to an Iraqi government intelligence official.

The kidnapping occurred, the official said, after the Americans were invited into the home of their interpreter in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora. The individuals were then taken to Sadr city, the official said, "after [the kidnapping]...

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