(ATR) The president of the Iraq Olympic Committee is appealing for the release of 14 members of the national taekwondo team who were kidnapped at gunpoint this week.
Ahmed Al-Sammarai says the kidnappers are demanding a $100,000 ransom. He says negotiations are taking place.
Reports conflict as to whether the group was seized on the way to or from Jordan, where training matches were being held. One member of the group apparently was able to avoid capture.
The abductions took place between Fallujah and Ramadi, west of Baghdad, both well-known trouble spots. So far, athletes appear to have been spared from the violence plaguing the country, although in July 2004 Al-Sammarai was the target of an armed ambush in Baghdad from which he escaped.
Dong Hoo Moon, secretary general of the World Taekwondo Federation tells Around the Rings that one of the captured athletes is Wisam Alawe, a bronze medalist at the recent Asian championships.
Moon says while none of the athletes took part in the Athens Olympics, it is possible that members of the team will try to qualify for the Beijing Games.
The International Olympic Committee says it is following news reports of the incident, but that it had no immediate comment.
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