Kidnap sparks Cairo troop denial

The group said the kidnap was in reply to Egypt's offer of security aid

Egypt has said it is "absolutely not" considering sending troops to Iraq.

Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit made the comments after the kidnapping of an Egyptian diplomat by gunmen in the Iraqi capital, Baghdad.

A group calling itself the Lions of Allah Brigade said it had taken the hostage in response to Egypt's offer of security aid to Iraq's government.

A BBC correspondent says Cairo has offered equipment and training for Iraqi security troops.

In a fresh hostage-taking, the director of a state-owned Iraqi construction company was kidnapped on his way to work on Saturday, an interior ministry spokesman said.

'No deal'

Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi visited Cairo this week and discussed the possibility of using Egyptian troops to train Iraq's forces.

But Egyptian officials have stressed that no deal was struck to deploy military forces.

"Egypt sending any forces or military personnel to Iraq was not a matter that has been proposed at all," the country's official news agency Mena quoted Mr Gheit as saying.

Lorry driver Mohammed Ali is one of two Egyptians being held in Iraq

The Egyptian diplomat, Mohamed Mamdouh Qutb, has been shown on video before six masked gunmen. He was kidnapped as he left a mosque on Friday afternoon.

There have been dozens of kidnappings in Iraq since April, but this is the first time a foreign diplomat has been captured.

In a separate development, the captors of seven foreign truck drivers - including an Egyptian hostage - issued a new deadline to the hostages' Kuwaiti employer.

In a video broadcast on the Arabic satellite TV station al-Jazeera, the kidnappers apparently issued a fresh, 48-hour deadline for Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport to shut its operations in Iraq.

In the tape, the Black Banners group also increased their demands, adding that Iraqi prisoners be freed from Kuwaiti and US jails and the company pay compensation to the families of those killed in American attacks on the town of Falluja.

They had threatened to kill one hostage every three days, starting on Saturday. But that deadline has apparently been extended by 48 hours.

A few days ago, the Egyptian diplomat celebrated the release of an Egyptian truck driver who was kidnapped in Iraq earlier this month.