IRAQ - Minister Quits Over Kidnaps.

In a sign of a growing sectarian crisis within the national unity government, the Sunni Arab Higher Education Minister, Abid Dhiya' al-Ajili, on Nov. 15 said he was standing down temporarily from his post to protest against the mass abduction of dozens of hostages from a ministry building. Earlier, Maliki had played down the Nov. 14 morning raid and said that most of those abducted had been released. The number of those originally kidnapped and those still held is heavily contested. But even the lowest estimate would still mean that the raid on a research institute in the Baghdad district of Kerrada by gunmen reportedly dressed as police commandos was the largest mass abduction since the 2003 US-led invasion.

Sunni MPs on Nov. 14 said 100 to 150 directors, staff and visitors at the institute had been abducted. Minister Ajili said 70 were still being held. Government spokesmen, however, said about 70 were originally taken, 40 were still missing at the end of Nov. 14 and most of these were freed on Nov. 15. Maliki, in remarks broadcast on state TV, on Nov. 15 vowed to "pursue those who were behind this". The interior ministry had earlier announced that five senior policemen had been arrested in response to the raid. However, Maliki said: "What happened was not terrorism, rather it was due to dispute and conflict between militias from one side or another".

The Sunni Arab-led Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) controls the higher education ministry, while the police are believed to be heavily infiltrated with members of Shi'ite militias. The incident comes amid an apparent push by Maliki to distance his government from the religious or ethnic-based parties that make up his ruling coalition.