PARIS, Dec 5 (AFP) - The French foreign ministry on Monday confirmed that a French national working for a non-governmental organisation is missing in Iraq.

The ministry named the man as Bernard Planche and said he worked for an organisation called AACCESS "in the social and economic sector."

Earlier Iraqi police reported that a French engineer was kidnapped Monday morning from a wealthy west Baghdad neighborhood.

"Our embassy in Baghdad has been mobilised and is in close contact with the Iraqi authorities to obtain the release of our compatriot," the ministry said.

The kidnapping brings to six the number of Westerners abducted over the past week in a resurgence of hostage-taking. The abduction comes amid a surge of appeals by international figures for the hostages to be released amid a fresh spike in violence as war-torn Iraq heads towards a crunch general election on December 15.

According to police, four armed militants, including a woman, broke into his house in the Mansour neighborhood around 9:20am and dragged him out. When the man refused to enter the car he was pistol whipped.

A nearby policeman saw the event and opened fire. The gunmen returned fire and fled with their hostage. The policeman said blood was visible on the doorstep.

Just a day earlier, one of the most prominent US Muslim organizations, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, became the latest group to demand the release of the four Western Christian peace activists kidnapped last week.

The two Canadians, one Briton and an American, are linked to the US and Canada-based Christian Peacemaker Teams opposed to the continued presence of US-led foreign troops in Iraq.

"Those who left the comfort of their homes to advocate for the rights of others that do not share their faith, ethnicity or language should be celebrated and honored by Muslims, not humiliated by being made captives or, God forbid, killed," said Parvez Ahmed, the organization's chairman.

 1 2 Next >