The Guardian's Iraq correspondent missing after kidnap

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 20-Oct-05, 08:30

LONDON – Rory Carroll, a Guardian journalist in Baghdad, was yesterday kidnapped at gunpoint by unknown men, coinciding with the first day of former Iraqi president Saddam Hussein's trial for murder and torture.

Efforts are being made to locate Carroll, whose Irish citizenship has prompted the intervention of the Irish government through its Middle East embassies.

Carroll, along with one of his drivers, was abducted in the Baghdad suburb of Sadr City. He had just left a house after interviewing its Shia occupants about their suffering under Saddam's regime for an article scheduled for today's Guardian. The driver was freed minutes later.

The Guardian reported Carroll's abduction remarking that his coverage "has been critical of the US-led invasion".

Alan Rusbridger, The Guardian editor, said: "Rory is in Iraq as a professional journalist -- and he's a very good, straight journalist whose only concern is to report fairly and truthfully about the country."

On Tuesday, a roadside bomb killed the 97th British soldier since the start of hostilities in March 2003.

Carroll had volunteered for the Iraq assignment in January. He was previously the paper's Africa correspondent and had also covered the aftermath of the Kosovo war.

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