Sadr Militia Said To Hold Police General Against Prisoners' Release

DOHA, Aug 9 (AFP) - A video purporting to show an Iraqi police general being held by militia of rebel cleric Moqtada Sadr against the release of captured colleagues was shown Monday on Al-Jazeera television.
In Baghdad interior ministry spokesman Sabah Khadim admitted that a policeman had been abducted from a police station in the capital's Shiite stronghold of Sadr City, but said, "He is not a high ranking officer."
Sadr's spokesman in Sadr City Abdul Hadi al-Darraji said he was not aware of the kidnapping.
The video aired by Al-Jazeera showed an officer identified as Brigadier General Raad Mohamad Khudr, former head of the Rasafa police station in Baghdad, sitting in front of masked gunmen.
One read a statement saying the abducted police officer was taken to seek the release of militiamen of Sadr's Mehdi Army detained during ongoing clashes in the central city of Najaf with US and Iraqi government forces.
It was the first such video claiming that the Mehdi Army had taken a hostage.