Washington has been pressing Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to crack down on militias notionally loyal to his allies but Maliki says he needs more time. Many of Saddam Hussein's fellow Sunnis, and US commanders, complain the Iraqi police is heavily infiltrated by Shi'ite militias.

The White House, determined to build up Iraq's security forces so it can hand over responsibility for security, will be watching the outcome anxiously as it reviews strategy under mounting domestic pressure to bring US troops home.

"The minister himself is questioning all the officers in charge of that sector," government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said on Tuesday of the busy, commercial Karrada district where the kidnap took place.

Senior police officials were arrested after another such raid six weeks ago, when the 26 employees of a meat-processing factory were taken by men in uniform.

The higher education minister noted the kidnap followed dozens of killings of academics and told parliament he feared for the future of Iraq's beleaguered universities.

He dismissed reports he was suggesting campuses simply shut down, however, despite slumping attendance because of bloodshed.

Minister Dhiab is from the main Sunni political bloc and many Iraqi ministries are effectively fiefdoms of one party. But, Dhiab, in common with other senior officials, declined to blame one sectarian group or another for the raid.

"It's a terrorist act," he said.

Both Sunni insurgents and Shi'ite militias have been blamed for mass kidnappings in the past and gunmen have on occasion released some of those initially seized based on their sect.

President Bush has said he is open to "fresh perspectives" to stem violence killing dozens a day after his Republicans lost control of Congress in elections last week.

He reacted skeptically to Democrat calls for a schedule for a phased withdrawal, however, and to suggestions he seek help from Syria, and possibly Iran, to help stabilize Iraq.

Bush is waiting for proposals from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group, which heard on Tuesday from his main ally in Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was key to stabilising Iraq.

"The biggest single factor, (Blair) said, in getting moderate Muslim countries to support a new Iraq, would be if there was progress on Israel and Palestine as part of a strategy for the Middle East as a whole - a point the Prime Minister made repeatedly to the group," the spokesman said.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday said neither Iran nor Syria appeared interested in helping stabilize Iraq or the Middle East and played down the idea of direct talks.

"There is no lack of opportunity to talk to the Iranians. I think the question is: is there anything about Iranian behavior that suggests that they are prepared to contribute to stability in Iraq and I have to say that at this point, I don't see it," Rice told reporters as she flew to Hanoi for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation regional summit.

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