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US death toll in Iraq nears 2004 level
(AP)
Updated: 2005-12-31 18:11

At least 17 people were killed in shootings, mortar attacks and a suicide car bombing in Baghdad on Friday. In the most serious incident, police said nine people were killed in a drive-by shooting �� apparently because they were drinking alcohol in public. Two Iraqi army captains were also gunned down in the town of Dujail, north of Baghdad, as they drove home.

A senior Sudanese diplomat said his country closed its embassy in Baghdad in an effort to win the release of six kidnapped employees �� including one diplomat.

"A statement was issued by the Sudanese government to close the embassy in Iraq to win the release of our kidnapped citizens," Charge d'affairs Mohamed Ahmed Khalil told The Associated Press. He added that the embassy's 12 employees would leave Monday.

Al-Qaida in Iraq had threatened Thursday to kill five Sudanese on Saturday unless the country removed its diplomatic mission from Iraq.

The Sudanese Foreign Ministry reported on Dec. 24 that six of its embassy employees were kidnapped �� including the mission's second secretary, Abdel Moneam Mohammad Tom. It was not clear if the al-Qaida statement was referring to the same group.
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