IRAQ COMPUTERS STOLEN FROM KOREAN AID AGENCYThe Korea Times : Stolen Computers Found in Iraqi ShopsStolen Computers Found in Iraqi Shops



By Park Song-wu
Staff Reporter
Desktop computers and LCD monitors, which a group of unidentified Iraqis stole from a South Korean aid agency in late September, were recently found at electronic shops in Baghdad, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Monday.

Three Iraqi suspects are under interrogation by the Baghdad authorities, a ministry official said in Seoul.

``The Baghdad government told us that they found a total of 84 monitors, 18 computers and other gadgets such as DVDs at two electronic shops in Baghdad,?? he said at a press briefing.

He expected that other assistance goods stolen at the same time would also be recovered as suspects are under questioning by the police.

Fourteen South Korean vehicles, carrying $3.5 million worth of Internet facilities from the Jordanian port of Aqaba to Baghdad, were ambushed by unidentified Iraqis on two occasions, Sept. 19 and 21, at Ar-Ramadi, 150 kilometers west of Baghdad.

Fourteen Iraqi drivers were captured but soon released. No security agents escorted the trucks.

The Seoul official said that the Iraqi authorities consider the thieves are not linked to insurgent groups as the stolen items were found at commercial shops.

The computer equipment, provided by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), was bound for the war-torn country?s national education facilities.

The aid agency is currently keeping the items recovered from the electronic shops.

Seoul has requested that Baghdad beef up security measures to prevent the recurrence of similar incidents, the official said.