PARIS (Reuters) – Three French nationals and one Iraqi working for a French non-governmental organization have gone missing in Baghdad, their employer said on Friday, adding that no ransom money had been demanded.
SOS Chretiens d’Orient said the four had disappeared on Monday after heading to Baghdad for “administrative procedures” and that the Iraqi authorities had been informed.
The French Foreign Ministry has also been informed of the situation and is trying to secure more information on the case, a ministry official said.
The NGO says on its website it seeks to help Christians in the region.
In December, a French journalist was kidnapped close to the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, but was released 24 hours later after France’s foreign minister intervened with the Iraqi prime minister, French diplomats have said.
These incidents come amid growing tensions between the United States and Iran in the region, culminating in the killing of a top Iranian general by a U.S. drone at Baghdad airport earlier this month.
Reporting by John Irish; Writing by Benoit Van Overstraeten; Editing by Gareth Jones