Pakistan says insurgents in Iraq have kidnapped an embassy staffer who disappeared Saturday after going to pray at a Baghdad mosque.

The Foreign Ministry says a previously unknown group apparently abducted the Pakistani employee, Malik Mohammad Javed, who is not a diplomat. Officials in Islamabad appealed for his release.

The ministry says the missing man has contacted Pakistan's embassy and said he has not been harmed.

In a separate incident, al-Qaida-linked militants say they have kidnapped and killed a senior Iraqi police officer in Baghdad.

An internet statement said the victim - a top policeman in Najaf - was abducted and killed late Saturday. The statement has not been authenticated.

Scores of foreigners and government officials have been kidnapped over the past year. Some have been released unharmed, while others have been killed.