By Jonathan Wright
Cairo - Gunmen have killed the head of Egypt's diplomatic mission in Baghdad, Cairo said on Thursday. The al-Qaeda group said it executed him because he represented a "tyrannical" government allied to Jews and Christians.
The envoy, ambassador Ihab el-Sherif, was abducted near his home in Baghdad last Saturday about one month after taking up his post as one of the highest ranking Arab diplomats in Iraq.
A former diplomat in Tel Aviv, Sherif appears to have fallen foul of a conflict between insurgents and the US-backed rulers in Baghdad over Arab recognition of the government.
The Iraqi government had said Egypt planned to upgrade its representation in Baghdad to full ambassador level. Egypt said although Sherif had the civil service rank of ambassador, his title remained head of the diplomatic mission in Iraq.
Iraq's al-Qaeda group announced his death on Thursday in a Web statement. "We al-Qaeda in Iraq announce that the judgment of God has been implemented against the ambassador of the infidels, the ambassador of Egypt. Oh enemy of God, Ihab el-Sherif, this is your punishment in this life."
The Sunni Muslim group, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, posted a video showing the hostage speaking but not the killing.
The Egyptian presidency confirmed that Sherif was dead, saying in a statement the envoy had "lost his life at the hands of terrorism which trades in Islam".
"The Egyptian Foreign Ministry... has received with deep pain and sadness the news of the martyrdom of ambassador Dr Ihab el-Sherif," a foreign ministry statement read.
An Egyptian diplomatic source said Egypt had confirmation of the killing "through multiple contacts" but had not received decisive evidence from the Iraqi government and did not know where Sherif's body might be.
The killing surprised the Egyptian government, which earlier on Thursday was saying it remained in contact with all Iraqi groups and hoped to secure his release.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit had told reporters that Sherif was a pious Muslim and that his mission in Iraq was to make contact with all sectors of Iraqi society.
On the video, Sherif appeared blindfolded. He identified himself by name and said he was the head of the Egyptian mission in Iraq with ambassadorial rank in Egypt's foreign ministry.
"Previously... I was deputy to the Egyptian ambassador to Israel," he said. He appeared alone without militants.
Al-Qaeda Organisation for Holy War in Iraq said it would later provide details of Sherif's interrogation.
"The ambassador of the infidels gave information that showed the infidelity of his regime and allegiance to the Jews and Christians. His confessions were taped," said the statement.
The Egyptian government is one of the friendliest in the region towards the United States, which militant Islamists call a crusader state because of its invasions of Muslim countries.
Egypt was also the first Arab state to make peace with Israel. Relations with Israel have improved this year, with important agreements on trade and gas deliveries.
The killing of Sherif sparked a heated domestic controversy, with opposition leaders blaming the government for rushing him to Baghdad to please the United States.
"His blood is on the hands of those who sent him to Iraq at this time," said Dia el-Din Dawoud, leader of the Arab nationalist and leftist Nasserite Party.
"Egypt wanted to stand out by sending the first Arab ambassador to Iraq, but as long as our policies do not spring from our national and Arab interests, this will be the outcome," he said. Other leaders made similar remarks.
Zarqawi's group also said other envoys would face the same fate. It has in the past beheaded foreign captives.
Egypt's top Sunni cleric said diplomats in Iraq should not be harmed because they were helping the Iraqi people.
"Those who kidnap such people are committing a crime against religion, morality and humanity and a crime that goes against honour and chivalry," Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the sheikh of al-Azhar in Cairo, told a Dubai television station.
Zarqawi's group is one of the leaders of a bloody insurgency against US forces and the American-backed Iraqi government.
"Egypt's prisons are full of mujahideen and its courts do not rule by God's law. They have issued sentences against true Muslims, including our Sheikh Ayman al-Zawahri," al-Qaeda said, referring to the Egyptian right-hand man of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, wanted by Cairo for anti-government attacks.