Iraqi kidnappers sentenced to death

A group of 40 Iraqis convicted of kidnapping have been issued death sentences by the Central Criminal Court in Baghdad.

A further 60 were sentenced to life imprisonment for the same crime.

Judge Abdul Sattar, spokesperson for the Iraqi judiciary, said they had been gang members, drawn from 66 groups said to be carrying out frequent kidnappings.

A third grou of 31 defendants were found not guilty.

The sentences follow a sharp increase in armed kidnappings in the Iraqi capital, including business owners, traders and citizens, further heightening tension among residents in this already fraught city.

The Iraqi interior minister has said that, although Iraqi authorities occasionally manage to dismantle such gangs, citizens are demanding more severe penalties for kidnappers to deter others.

An Iraqi police investigator in Baghdad previously told The New Arab that most kidnapping incidents were carried out with the participation of people close to the victim and "sometimes relatives or neighbours", who know very well if their target or a member of their family is capable of paying a ransom.

The current wave kidnappings in Iraq tend to have either have a political purpose or financial motivation.

If the kidnapper is after money, the victim is usually released after the gang receives a ransom. It has been known, however, for kidnappers to kill their victims if their identities had been revealed.