Gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms abducted between 30 and 50 sports officials, including the head of the national Olympic committee, while they were holding a meeting in Baghdad on Saturday, according to police reports.
Details of the mass abduction were sketchy, but police said the incident took place at a major conference centre in central Baghdad .
Some mass kidnappings reported by police have later turned out to be arrests made by other security departments.
