Gunmen kidnap Iraqi green activist

BAGHDAD: A prominent Iraqi activist campaigning for the preservation of the famed Mesopotamian marshes has been kidnapped by armed men south of Baghdad, his family said yesterday.

Jassim al-Assadi, 65, head of the environmental group Nature Iraq, raised awareness of the threats facing the drought-hit Unesco World Heritage Site. He was abducted on Wednesday, his brother Nazim said, “5km before the capital, two cars stopped him. Armed men in plain clothes handcuffed him and put him into a vehicle. The family has not heard from Assadi since. The motive isn’t clear,” Nazim Assadi said.