Brazen kidnapping's consequences uncertain

Reports are at best mixed.

The BBC:

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has called for the immediate arrest of those behind a mass kidnapping from a government building in Baghdad.

The authorities say about 40 people taken from the higher education ministry building by gunmen in interior ministry uniforms have been released.

Police say they are attempting to free more, but there are conflicting reports of how many are still being held.

CNN:

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The fate of those kidnapped from a Baghdad research institute remained unclear Wednesday.

An Iraqi Interior Ministry official told CNN that most of those kidnapped Tuesday had been freed. But on Wednesday, an emergency police official in the Iraqi capital said no more than 20 people had been released.

It was unclear whether those released represented all of those abducted, as the Interior Ministry did not know how many were kidnapped, the Interior Ministry official said. No one was killed and no one was tortured, he said.

AP:

BAGHDAD, Iraq Nov 15, 2006 (AP)— The Higher Education Ministry said Wednesday that "about 40" people abducted from its offices had been released. No official was able to say how many were still held captive.

Government ministries have given wildly varying figures on the number of kidnap victims in the assault in central Baghdad Tuesday, with reports ranging from a high of about 150 to a low of 40 to 50.

This is the government we are struggling to preserve.