Iraqi lawmakers yesterday called for easing security measures imposed on the capital every time they meet, and Pakistan's government confirmed that an embassy diplomat was kidnapped in Baghdad.

　　Malik Mohammed Javed, deputy of the Pakistani charge d'affaires, went missing late on Saturday after he left his Baghdad home to attend prayers at a nearby mosque.

　　The Pakistani Foreign Ministry said in a statement the previously unknown Omar bin Khattab group claimed responsibility for the kidnapping. It added that Javed had contacted the Pakistani Embassy in Baghdad and told officials he had not been harmed. The kidnappers' demands were not clear.

　　In July, insurgents kidnapped and beheaded two Pakistanis - Raja Azad, 49, an engineer, and Sajad Naeem, 29, a driver in Iraq. Both worked for a Kuwaiti company in Iraq.

　　The kidnappers - calling themselves the Islamic Army in Iraq - demanded Pakistan, a predominantly Muslim nation, promise not to send troops to Iraq.

　　Pakistan - a key ally of the United States in the war against terrorism - has refused to deploy peacekeepers to Iraq and has urged its citizens to avoid the nation.

　　The government also announced the arrest yesterday of Ibrahim Sabaawi, the son of Saddam Hussein's half brother, near Baghdad. The statement said Sabaawi was close to the former regime.

　　"Until his arrest, he had been supporting terrorists and providing them with finances," it said. It was unclear when or where the arrest took place.

　　The terrorist group al-Qaida in Iraq, led by Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, rejected in an Internet statement calls by interim President Jalal Talabani to put down their weapons and talk with the government.

　　"Oh you agents of the Jews and the Christians, we have nothing for you but the sword," said the statement, which could not be independently verified. "We will not stop fighting."

　　In the same statement, the group claimed to have kidnapped Brigadier General Bassem Mohammed Kadhim al-Jazaari, a Najaf police official, while he was visiting Baghdad.

　　"He was interrogated," the statement said. "After his confessions, God's verdict was carried out against him."

　　Interior Ministry official Captain Ahmed Isma'el said al-Jazaari was kidnapped late on Saturday in western Baghdad.

　　During yesterday's National Assembly meeting, parliament speaker Hajim al-Hassani called for relaxing security measures that have snarled traffic and closed many streets when lawmakers meet.

　　Many residents have complained about the increased security in a city already under tight control.

　　Some lawmakers said they were insulted and mistreated by Iraqi police at checkpoints, and one female lawmaker said her weapon was confiscated.

　　"These measures are highly exaggerated and they hinder the work of the employees and the movement of the citizens," al-Hassani said.

　　"We asked the security officials to relax these measures."

　　He said the assembly will officially inform the authorities of their request.

　　Qassim Dawoud, Iraq's minister of state for national security, said the measures were necessary as long as the assembly continued to convene at the same location.

　　(The Associated Press)