BBC NEWS | Middle East | Red Crescent halts Baghdad work

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Red Crescent halts Baghdad work: "The Iraqi Red Crescent has suspended its operations in Baghdad a day after almost 30 people were seized from its offices in the Iraqi capital.

A Red Crescent official said the kidnappers had released 13 people.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has called for the others to be freed, saying the Red Crescent provided vital help for those in need.

The ICRC pulled its own international staff out of Iraq three years, ago when its offices there were bombed.

'We gave orders to our Baghdad staff to stop working till further notice,' said Mazen Abdallah, the Iraqi Red Crescent's secretary general.

'We renew our calls for the release of the kidnapped persons.'

The 13 freed people were mostly guards and drivers, Mr Abdallah said.

He said the Red Crescent's other offices outside Baghdad were open as usual." Read complete post here.