CBS News reports Iraqi translator kidnapped, slain

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
An Iraqi translator working for CBS News was found dead five days after he was abducted from his Baghdad home, the US network announced Monday. Anwar Abbas Lafta, who had worked for CBS for about 10 months, was seized on the evening of Aug. 20 by eight to 10 armed men, some of whom were wearing body armor, the network said in a statement. "Mr. Abbas' brother was beaten, his sister was shot in the arm, and Mr. Abbas himself was taken by the men," CBS said in the statement issued in New York. "During the week, two ransom calls were received by Mr. Abbas' family." On Aug, 25, the family was notified by police that Abbas' body had been found on the north side of Sadr City, the teeming Shi'ite community on the eastern edge of the capital, the statement said. He was buried Monday in the Shi'ite holy city of Najaf.