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Two Canadians were among a group of four humanitarian workers recently abducted in central Iraq, a senior Canadian official confirmed on Sunday.
The Foreign Ministry was notified about the incident by the Canadian embassy in Amman, Jordan on Saturday, said Dan McTeague, Parliamentary Secretary for Canadians Abroad.
The details of the incident were still emerging, McTeague said. The identities of the individuals, who reportedly also include one British and one American aid worker, are known, but being withheld for now.
"The interest we have is above all the safety of the individuals, so disclosing names, their organization and where they were kidnapped may not be helpful at this time," McTeague told CTV Newsnet in an interview from Ottawa on Sunday.
The Canadian foreign ministry has been advising since April 2004 that no Canadians travel to Iraq. That includes humanitarian missions.
Canada has currently no embassy in Iraq although Ottawa announced in October the purchase of a Baghdad compound where it plans to open an outpost by 2006.
Ottawa cannot say exactly how many Canadians may be living and working in Iraq, McTeague said.
In August, dual Canadian-Iraqi citizen Zaid Meerwali was murdered two weeks after being taken hostage by armed gunmen disguised as police officers. At least 200 people have been abducted in the last 18 months in Iraq.
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2005)
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