Jordanian kidnapped in Iraq

"We have received information of a kidnapping in Iraq on Tuesday of Jordanian Taha al-Maharmeh," the spokesman, a Mr. Ayed, was quoted as saying by the official Petra news agency.

Another Jordanian man had alerted Amman's embassy in Iraq of the kidnapping, he added, without giving details.

On Monday a Jordanian businessmen was snatched from his Baghdad home by an unknown group demanding a 250,000-dollar ransom for his release, his son said Tuesday.

Sameh, a son of Jamal Sadek al-Salaymeh, 63, said he had no other details on Monday's kidnapping.

But the victim, a father of three, had contacted a friend "to tell him that the kidnappers are negotiating a ransom with him and they had reached agreement on a sum of 250,000 dollars", the son said.