Iraqi governor seized as hostage crisis escalates

RAMADI, Iraq - Insurgents have kidnapped the top official in Iraq's rebellious Anbar province.

Raja Nawaf, who only became governor of Anbar a few days ago, was abducted with four bodyguards on the road from the town of Qaim, near the Syrian border, to the rebel stronghold of Ramadi, his brother Hamed Nawaf said.

The kidnappers, supporters of the al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are demanding that Nawaf's tribe release some of the militant leader's followers it is holding, said Nawaf's brother and a member of the Ramadi city council.

Although it appears to be a tit-for-tat turf war, the fighting showed some Iraqis are putting up resistance to Zarqawi, whose followers have kidnapped and beheaded foreigners and launched suicide bomb attacks that have killed hundreds.

US forces said they too continued an offensive launched three days ago against rebels in an unspecified area of Anbar.

The abduction of the Anbar governor underscored the complex security challenge facing Iraq's new government as it tries to tame lawless regions where Zarqawi's ruthless followers are taking on Iraqi security forces, American troops and tribes.

"Hamed's tribe has kidnapped some of Zarqawi's people to force them to release him," said a member of the Ramadi city council.

"And Zarqawi's people have kidnapped some of Hamed's tribes."

- REUTERS