Gunmen have killed the head of Egypt's diplomatic mission in Baghdad, Cairo said on Thursday. The Al Qaeda group said it executed him because he represented a "tyrannical" government allied to Jews and Christians, Reuters reported. The envoy, ambassador Ihab al-Sherif, was abducted near his home in Baghdad last Saturday about one month after taking up his post as one of the highest ranking Arab diplomats in Iraq. A former diplomat in Tel Aviv, Sherif appears to have fallen foul of a conflict between insurgents and the U.S.-backed rulers in Baghdad over Arab recognition of the government. The Iraqi government had said Egypt planned to upgrade its representation in Baghdad to full ambassador level. Egypt said that although Sherif has the civil service rank of ambassador, his title remained head of the diplomatic mission in Iraq. The Al Qaeda group in Iraq announced his death on Thursday in an Internet statement posted on an Islamist Web site. "We al Qaeda in Iraq announce that the judgement of God has been implemented against the ambassador of the infidels, the ambassador of Egypt. Oh enemy of God, Ihab el-Sherif, this is your punishment in this life," the statement, carried by Reuters, said. --More 2256 Local Time 1956 GMT
