As deadly pre-election violence rages around Iraq, claiming at least 20 lives, the Vatican reports that a Catholic Archbishop in the restive city of Mosul has been kidnapped.
"The Holy See deplores in the firmest way such a terrorist act," a statement released by the Vatican said Monday, asking for the immediate release of Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa.
In a report from Baghdad, the Associated Press says that the 66-year-old Archbishop was abducted while walking in front of his church in Mosul's eastern neighbourhood of Muhandeseen.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the abduction.
Catholics comprise approximately 3 per cent of the country's 26 million people.
The kidnapping was not the only violent incident reported Monday.
Eight Iraqi National Guardsmen were killed, and another four wounded, when insurgents attacked a military checkpoint at the provincial broadcasting centre near Baqouba, north of Baghdad.
Another 200 kilometres north, a suicide driver targeted a police station in Beiji. More than two dozen people were wounded and seven policemen killed in that attack.
And west of the capital, in Ramadi, there are reports an unknown number of U.S. Marines died when they were ambushed upon arriving at the site of a suspicious vehicle.
Also in Ramadi, officials said they had discovered the bodies of five civilians and one Iraqi soldier -- all of whom bore letters accusing them of being Shiites guilty of collaborating with U.S.-led forces.
And in Basra, mortars were fired at a pair of schools overnight -- both of which were slated for use as voting centres in the planned Jan. 30 vote.
On Sunday, at least 17 people died in a similar spate of violent incidents across Iraq.
Although the steady course of violence has caused some Iraqi Sunni groups to announce a boycott of the vote and prompted concerns over voter turnout on election day, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said Monday conditions might not be ideal.
But it's important they go ahead, he said.
"Even at this late stage, I would urge them to try and bring in as many people as possible and understand measures are being taken to assure security for the elections," Annan told reporters.
"As far as we are concerned, all the technical preparations are ready," he added. "We have done everything that we need to do to have the elections go forward."
Bolstering Annan's case, the commander of the multinational forces now in Iraq said a total of 300,000 troops are on hand to protects Iraq's electorate come voting day.
"Is there going to be violence on election day? There is, but it's important that we understand what's happening here," Gen. George W. Casey Jr. told reporters. "It's not just about violence. It's about former regime loyalists and foreign terrorists murdering innocent Iraqis and Iraqi security forces to stop them from exercising their right to vote."
While the threat and reality of violence may both serve to keep Iraqis out of the voting booth on Jan. 30, Iraqi exiles are largely free of such fears.
As of Monday, the estimated 1.2 million Iraqis eligible to vote overseas began registering to vote. The seven-day registration period is open to Iraqi nationals living in 14 countries including Australia, the U.S., Britain and Canada.
With reports from The Associated Press
