Contractor kidnapped

A missing Iraqi-American contractor was kidnapped by Shiite militiamen who lured him into central Baghdad by promising to help him find distant relatives, an Iraqi defence official said.

A Shiite extremist group claimed responsibility for the January 23 kidnapping and posted a video online that shows a man wearing military fatigues reading a list of demands that includes the release of militants, the prosecution of Blackwater guards and an immediate American troop withdrawal.

The man has been identified as Issa Salomi, the missing contractor.