Following are security developments in Iraq at 9:30 a.m. EST on Thursday.AMARA – Gunmen in two cars kidnapped a senior official of Iraq’s electricity ministry after he left work in Amara, 365 km (230 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said. The official was identified as Mutar Thamer, director of electricity …

TBILISI – Several thousand Georgians paid their last respects on Thursday to the country’s richest man, Badri Patarkatsishvili, in a low key funeral ceremony which his most well-known business partner did not attend.

KABUL – Afghan police have killed 25 Taliban fighters including an insurgent commander in a clash in the south of the country, the Interior Ministry said on Thursday.