Sahwa fighter wounded in kidnap attempt

KIRKUK / IraqiNews.com: A Sahwa council member on Tuesday was wounded in a kidnap attempt near Kirkuk city, a security source said. “The kidnap attempt took place near Yarghon al-Ulya village, al-Rashad district (35 km southwest of Kirkuk),” the source told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The wounded was hospitalized,” the source added. The Sahwa councils are anti-Qaeda fighters working in coordination with the Multi-National Force (MNF) and the Iraqi government. Headed by local chieftains, the councils have been credited with helping reduce violence in many Iraqi provinces, like Anbar, Diala, Ninewa, and Salah al-Din. Kirkuk, an oil-rich and mixed city of Kurds, Turkmen, Christians and Arabs, lies 250 km northeast of Baghdad. SS (P) 1