British aid official kidnapped in Iraq as deadly attack hits security forces

BAGHDAD, Oct 19 (AFP) - A British official from a leading international aid organisation was kidnapped in Iraq on Tuesday as four Iraqi national guards were killed and scores wounded in a mortar attack on their base.
The renewed spate of unrest came as Britain strongly hinted it would agree to a request by the United States to send some of its troops away from their relatively peaceful centre of operations in the south to more unstable areas.
The move would free up US forces to crack down on insurgents in their stronghold of Fallujah, where US warplanes on Tuesday struck suspected hideouts of wanted Islamic militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi.
Margaret Hassan, the British-born head of CARE International`s Iraq operations and a naturalised Iraqi national, was kidnapped early Tuesday, the aid organization said in London.
Her abduction was a further sign of the insurgents` willingness to strike at workers from foreign aid agencies, after the kidnapping of two Italian aid workers in early September, who were released after a three-week ordeal.
A Japanese woman aid worker was also kidnapped earlier this year, but until now relatively few aid workers and women have been abducted by extremists.
Hassan`s kidnapping follows a slew of hostage-taking and murders by several insurgent groups in recent weeks, including that of British contractor Kenneth Bigley, who was beheaded earlier in October.
The cruel routine of almost daily attacks showed no sign of flagging, with the attack on an Iraqi national guard based in the town of Mashahda north of Baghdad killing four guards and wounding at least 80 other people.
The strike was another illustration at the insurgents` desire to hit at the fledgling security forces, which have been a prime target in the aftermath of last year`s invasion.
One US contractor was also killed and seven other people wounded, including an American soldier, in a separate mortar and rocket propelled grenade attack on a US army compound in central Baghdad.
Kellogg Brown and Root (KBR), a subsidiary of the US oil services giant Halliburton, confirmed its employee was killed, bringing to 54 the number of deaths suffered by Halliburton and its subcontractors in Iraq.
US warplanes struck one of the breeding grounds for radical Islam early Tuesday with 90 minutes of air strikes on suspected safe houses and weapons depots thought to belong to Zarqawi in southern Fallujah, the military said.
The strikes have been a regular occurrence since June as US and Iraqi forces seek to subdue the city in the Sunni Muslim heartland ahead of January elections. The military statement made no reference to any possible casualties.
US and Iraqi forces believe that Fallujah, west of Baghdad, has been transformed into the main base for the Jordanian-born Zarqawi and his followers, who are blamed for a slew of car bombings and kidnappings across Iraq.
Two Iraqis were also killed in fighting between US troops and insurgents as the Americans carried out sweeps around the northern town of Duluiya, considered a hotbed of Islamic extremism, medical sources said.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw indicated Tuesday that Britain was likely to agree to the US request to move some of its troops into more unstable areas and will only refuse if British generals advise otherwise.
"I think we would be letting down an ally if we were to say no in the face of very clear advice from our own, British commanders that we ought to make this contribution," Straw told BBC radio. "If it is operationally justified, it ought to go ahead."
A day earlier, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon announced Britain was considering the move and that a decision would be reached later in the week after consultations with the military top brass.
British officials have not revealed further details of the redeployment, although it is widely expected that the troops -- reportedly numbering 650 -- will go to the violence-plagued towns just south of Baghdad.
However political opponents have accused the government in London of making a cynical political move ahead of the US presidential elections that could see British casualties multiply alarmingly.
At the Pentagon, spokesman Larry DiRita said General George Casey, the US commander of the multinational force in Iraq, was considering ways to reposition forces in Iraq and was asking coalition members how their forces might participate.
In London, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan expressed confidence that Iraq`s planned elections would take place in January "if things go well and everyone does what they are supposed to do and the environment holds".
The US State Department meanwhile warned Iran against providing any type of support to Zarqawi, but declined to comment on allegations of an Iran-Zarqawi link.
"We have generally been very concerned about some of the reports of Iranian activity in Iraq," spokesman Richard Boucher said.