Brief Kidnap of Iraq’s Boxing Federation Chief Raises Concerns

A worker pulls a cart loaded with goods at a market in Baghdad. (Reuters)

Iraq's Boxing Federation Chief, Bashar Mustafa, was released on Wednesday only hours after his abduction.

Masked gunmen had kidnapped Mustafa on the Baghdad-Karbala a day earlier.

“Such incidents are completely unacceptable, especially after the significant progress achieved in security nationwide,” head of the Parliament's Security and Defense Committee Hakim al-Zamili told Asharq Al-Awsat.

Although no details were released on the motives behind the abduction, Mustafa's quick release completely ruled out ISIS involvement.

Most suspicions point towards criminals or partisan-linked armed factions being responsible.

“Parliament's Security and Defense Committee is following such matters firsthand with all military and security authorities—Anyone, regardless of level authorization or position they hold, who aids in destabilizing national security serves only ISIS which is trying hard to exploit tensions especially with elections being around the corner,” added Zamili. 

Mustafa, originally from the northern Kurdish region of Dohuk, also serves as vice president of Iraq's Olympics committee.

The kidnap was linked to allegations on a campaign targeting Popular Mobilization Forces members in disputed Kurdish areas.

But Zamili said that such a “justification for kidnapping is not at all sound- it’s too wide of a generalization- it’s a kidnap involving an important sports figure to be used as a bargain chip, whilst he (Mustafa) has no guilt to bear in what happened whatsoever.” 

Zamili revealed that the commander of military operations of the Euphrates area played an important role in Mustafa’s swift release.

“The speed of his release reaffirms the ability of the security and military authorities to take confident and strong action,” said Zamili.

The Secretary-General of the "Iraqi National Congress", Aras Habib Karim, considered in a statement, that the kidnapping is "a setback for Iraqi sports at the time excellent efforts have been exerted during the last period to lift the ban on Iraqi football."

He added: "The kidnapping of a sports figure at this level sends the wrong message about the security situation in the country."

Chairman of the Parliamentary Youth and Sports Committee Jasim Mohammed Jaafar labeled Mustafa’s abduction as “a crime and an insult to all Iraqi people.”