Four of Five Kidnapped Britons Were Bodyguards

What I hadn't noticed from the capture of a group of five Britons in Baghdad was that four of them were bodyguards for the fifth, a consultant coming to speak at an Iraqi ministry.

That is to say, as a small but effective security detail, these four presumably could have taken on a typical kidnapping and possibly prevented their own capture. That the believed Shiite militia that captured them sent dozens of men in official Iraqi Police uniforms and SUVs to where this foreigner was indicates to me that the ministry he had gone to speak was infiltrated by militias willing to tip them of his presence.

This was clearly a Shiite militia action, to have that kind of equipment and access. I think that these men's captors were a splinter Mahdi Army faction who feared being sold out by Moqtada Al Sadr as he consolidates his national position in Iraq and within the political and military operation that bears his name.

For followers under his direct control would be a risk to Sadr with no clear return. However, for splinter groups at risk from Sadr discipline, kidnapping Western captives might be a way of ensuring security, like Iran's attempts to gain nuclear weapons.