One Year Later, No Word on Brazilian Kidnapped in Iraq

It has now been a year since Brazilian engineer João José Vasconcellos Júnior was kidnapped in Iraq where he was working for Brazilian construction firm Odebrecht.

A convoy that Vasconcellos Junior was travelling in near the city of Baiji, in the so-called Sunni triangle, was attacked by terrorists and he was taken hostage on January 19, 2005.

The Foreign Ministry says that ever since the confirmation of the abduction of the Brazilian everyone in the government, from president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva down, has done all that was possible to free him.

However, the Ministry adds, the area where the kidnapping took place is very dangerous and the site of frequent skirmishes, attacks and bombings, which makes it extremely difficult to get reliable information.

Brazil has set up an "Iraq Center" at its diplomatic representation in Jordan and used that as a base for investigating the case.

ABr

Tags:

You May Also Like

Cotton Cultivation in Brazil Falls 28% and Rice 24%

The eighth national 2005/2006 grain harvest survey, released Thursday, July 6, by Brazil’s National ...

Brazil and India Join Forces to Build Railroad Wagons

The city of Santa Maria, in the southernmost Brazilian state of Rio Grande do ...

Jump in Oil Prices Gives Brazilian Market the Chills

Latin American stocks were mostly lower, this Tuesday, undermined by heavy profit taking and ...