Monday, November 28 2005 09:38 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Baghdad: Four aid workers, including two Canadians and Briton, have been kidnapped in Iraq, an Iraqi police commander said yesterday (Nov 27, 2005), while Iraqi police have arrested eight Sunni Arabs for allegedly plotting to assassinate the investigating judge in the case against Saddam Hussein.

Brigadier Hussein Kamal, the deputy interior minister for intelligence, said he had received a report that two Canadians and a Briton working for a relief organizations had been kidnapped, but he refused to discuss any details.

He confirmed an incident first described by Dan McTeague, parliamentary secretary for Canadians abroad. Speaking in Ottawa, he said the incident happened yesterday, but refused to name the organization involved or the location where they were kidnapped.

"There is concern that the revelation of names and other information may not have the outcome that we desire in terms of directly addressing the kidnapping in the case of these two Canadians," he said.

McTeague said the group "has not requested any assistance at this time."

He said officials both in Canada's embassy in Amman, Jordan and Ottawa are in contact with the organization and are standing by to provide assistance. Canada doesn't have an embassy in Iraq yet. "Our ability to provide assistance is limited" McTeague said. He said there were reports that an American was also taken, but he could not confirm it.

A British embassy official in Baghdad also refused to discuss any details. "We are aware of the reports and we investigating as a matter or urgency," a British Embassy spokesman said. "We are not releasing any further information at this time."

A US Embassy official said diplomats were looking into the report, but provided no other information.

Iraqi police yesterday arrested eight Sunni Arabs in the northern city of Kirkuk for allegedly plotting to assassinate the investigating judge who prepared the case against Saddam Hussein, a senior police commander said.

The men were carrying a document from former top Saddam deputy Izzat al-Douri ordering them to kill Raed Juhi, said Col. Anwar Qadir, a police commander in Kirkuk, where the men were arrested on Saturday.

Al-Douri is the highest ranking member of the Saddam regime still at large and is believed to be at least the symbolic leader of Saddam loyalists still fighting U.S. forces and the new government in Iraq. The arrest came two days before Saddam's trial resumes after a five-week break.

Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark arrived in Baghdad today, airport officials said, apparently to aid in Saddam's defense.

Clark, who worked for former US President Lyndon B. Johnson, has worked as an adviser to nearly a dozen international lawyers on Saddam's defense team. He has contended that Saddam's rights have been violated in the legal process following his capture.