Egypt's New Ambassador to Iraq Kidnapped by Insurgents: What Was He Doing Outside the Egyptian Embassy on His Own?

Egypt's new ambassador to Iraq has been kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents near his home in Baghdad.

NEAR HIS HOME??!

Is it common practice for ambassadors to own houses outside their embassies in their host countries?

Iraq is still a very dangerous place to be and the diplomats should have their residences within their embassies. The only reason that they should be leaving their secured embassies in Baghdad is for official business with the Iraqi government or for other diplomatic functions.

Going to a house that the insurgents obviously knew about and stopping to buy a newspaper was an unwise decision by both the Egyptian ambassador and the Egyptian government.

The practice of ambassadors living in houses outside their embassies is fine in nations where there is no war going on, but in war-torn Iraq, this is a huge mistake that all governments should learn from.