Alalam - Iraq

Tuesday's statement didn't give details on the circumstances surrounding the abduction of Afrah Shawqi al-Qaisi from her house late Monday night in Baghdad's southwestern Saydiyah neighbourhood.

Prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded her release and said "all journalists must be protected.

"Al-Qaisi, a veteran journalist and an employee of the Iraqi Culture Ministry, is considered one of the foremost critics of the country's endemic corruption.

Iraq's Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi ordered the security forces to investigate the kidnapping and to "exert the utmost effort" to save her, AP reported.

SA