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Kidnapped Egyptian diplomat killed in Iraq
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-07-08 08:36
Gunmen have killed the head of Egypt's diplomatic mission in Baghdad, Cairo
said on Thursday. The Al Qaeda group said it executed him because he represented
a "tyrannical" government allied to Jews and Christians.
The envoy, ambassador Ihab al-Sherif, was abducted near his home in Baghdad
last Saturday about one month after taking up his post as one of the highest
ranking Arab diplomats in Iraq.
A former diplomat in Tel Aviv, Sherif appears to have fallen foul of a
conflict between insurgents and the U.S.-backed rulers in Baghdad over Arab
recognition of the government.
A man holds a banner that reads 'Do not
execute him', during a news conference held at Egypt's Journalists Union
in Cairo July 7, 2005. Al Qaeda's group in Iraq said it killed Egypt's top
envoy to Iraq for representing a 'tyrannical' government allied to the
'Jews and Crusaders.'[Reuters] | The Iraqi
government had said Egypt planned to upgrade its representation in Baghdad to
full ambassador level. Egypt said that although Sherif has the civil service
rank of ambassador, his title remained head of the diplomatic mission in Iraq.
The Al Qaeda group in Iraq announced his death on Thursday in an Internet
statement posted on an Islamist Web site.
A blindfolded man purported to be Ihab
al-Sherif, head of the Egyptian Diplomatic Mission in Iraq, is seen in a
video on an al-Qaida-linked Web site released Thursday July 7, 2005 at an
unknown location in Iraq.[Reuters] | "We al Qaeda
in Iraq announce that the judgment of God has been implemented against the
ambassador of the infidels, the ambassador of Egypt. Oh enemy of God, Ihab
el-Sherif, this is your punishment in this life," the statement said.
The group, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, posted a video showing the hostage
speaking but not the actual killing.
The Egyptian presidency confirmed that Sherif was dead, saying in a statement
that the envoy had "lost his life at the hands of terrorism which trades in
Islam."
"The Egyptian Foreign Ministry ... has received with deep pain and sadness
the news of the martyrdom of Ambassador Dr. Ihab al-Sherif," added a Foreign
Ministry statement.
An Egyptian diplomatic source said Egypt had confirmation of the killing
"through multiple contacts" but had not received decisive evidence from the
Iraqi government and did not know where Sherif's body might be.
The killing surprised the Egyptian government, which earlier on Thursday was
saying that it remained in contact with all Iraqi groups and hoped to secure his
release.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit had told reporters that Sherif
was a pious Muslim and that his mission in Iraq was to make contact with all
sectors of Iraqi society.
TIES WITH ISRAEL
On the video, Sherif appeared blindfolded. He identified himself by name and
said he was the head of the Egyptian mission in Iraq with ambassadorial rank in
Egypt's foreign ministry.
"Previously ... I was deputy to the Egyptian ambassador to Israel," he said.
He appeared alone without militants.
Al Qaeda Organization for Holy War in Iraq said it would later provide
details of Sherif's interrogation.
"The ambassador of the infidels gave information that showed the infidelity
of his regime and allegiance to the Jews and Christians. His confessions were
taped," said the statement.
The Egyptian government is one of the friendliest in the region toward the
United States, which militant Islamists call a crusader state because of its
invasions of Muslim countries.
Egypt was also the first Arab state to make peace with Israel. Relations with
Israel have improved this year, with important agreements on trade and gas
deliveries.
The killing of Sherif sparked a heated domestic controversy, with opposition
leaders blaming the government for rushing him to Baghdad to please the United
States.
"His blood is on the hands of those who sent him to Iraq at this time," said
Dia el-Din Dawoud, leader of the Arab nationalist and leftist Nasserite Party.
"Egypt wanted to stand out by sending the first Arab ambassador to Iraq, but
as long as our policies do not spring from our national and Arab interests, this
will be the outcome," he told Reuters. Other leaders made similar remarks.
The Sunni Muslim group announced on Wednesday that it would kill Sharif and
also warned that other envoys would face the same fate. It has in the past
beheaded foreign captives, including two Americans and a Briton.
Zarqawi's group is one of the leaders of a bloody insurgency against U.S.
forces and the American-backed Iraqi government. Most of the hostages taken by
the group have been killed.
"Egypt's prisons are full of mujahideen and its courts do not rule by God's
law. They have issued sentences against true Muslims, including our Sheikh Ayman
al-Zawahri," al Qaeda said, referring to the Egyptian right-hand man of al Qaeda
leader Osama bin Laden, wanted by Cairo for anti-government attacks.
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