A Canadian working for the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has gone missing in Baghdad after the car he was travelling in was hit by gunfire.
The Geneva-based agency said in a statement that Mr Vatche Arslanian was feared to have been seriously injured in the incident when two marked ICRC vehicles were either attacked or caught in crossfire. They were part of a Red Cross convoy trying to reach casualties on the streets of Baghdad.
ICRC spokesman Mr Roland Huguenin-Benjamin told CNN that ambulances had been unable to approach casualties in many parts of the city due to heavy crossfire as US troops battle sporadic Iraqi resistance.
"There are lots of ... situations in which casualties have been seen, on the roads, on some bridges, and there was no possibility of evacuating them.
"We are very, very concerned that a convoy of two clearly identified ICRC cars with large flags on were caught in such a situation. One of our colleagues who is a logistician of Canadian nationality ... is feared seriously wounded and it has not been possible for hours to even approach the site."
AFP &