Iraqi Christian Kidnapped for $100,000 Ransom

A Christian man in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk has been kidnapped and is being held for a $100,000 ransom, police said Saturday.

Kirkuk deputy police chief Maj. Gen. Torhan Abdul-Rahman said the victim is a construction worker who did not come home from work Friday night. When officials called his mobile phone on Saturday, the kidnappers answered and demanded the money.

Parliament lawmaker Imad Yohanna, a Christian from Kirkuk, said the man was kidnapped because he is Christian.

Yohanna said Christians are seen as easy targets because they usually pay ransom without a fight, as opposed to Arabs whose tribes generally attack to free the victim.

Abdul-Rahman said 43 people from different ethnic groups have been kidnapped in Kirkuk this year.