BAGHDAD, July 24 (AFP) - The Iraqi caretaker government said Saturday it was working closely with the Egyptian mission here to broker the release of a diplomat kidnapped in central Baghdad.
"The government is working hard to get the release of the hostages. It is in constant contact with the Egyptian embassy," Deputy Foreign Minister Hamid al-Bayati told a press conference in the Iraqi capital.
"The government has had several meetings today to discuss the crisis," he added, stressing that the interim government "strongly deplores" kidnappings that aim only to derail the country's stabilisation.
Egypt's Mohamed Mamdouh Kotb, the father of three grown children and an experienced diplomat, was seized on Friday after he went out to attend evening prayers.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair's special envoy for human rights in Iraq, Ann Clwyd, also condemned the wave of abductions that peaked on Friday with the first diplomat to have been snatched since the crisis began earlier this year.
"The coalition strongly deplores these hostage-takings. It's appalling. It makes people fearful of walking on the streets and the people responsible for such actions should be brought to justice quickly," she said alongside Bayati.
Clwyd hailed the caretaker government for doing its job, backed by the multinational force, in trying to eradicate the kidnapping phenomenon.