Tensions around - Gunmen have kidnapped an Iraqi deputy health minister from his home in Baghdad, security sources have said. Several men, some in uniform, arrived in police cars and pick-up trucks to seize Ammar al-Saffar, police said. Mr Saffar's kidnap comes less than a week after dozens of people were abducted from the education ministry. Some 50 people have died in violence across Iraq, including 22 people killed by a suicide bomber, as a top Syrian official arrived for a rare visit. Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem is the first senior-ranking Syrian official to visit Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003. His visit comes amid calls for the Bush administration to involve Iraq's neighbours, Syria and Iran, in the search for an end to the conflict in Iraq. Mr Moualem has previously said Damascus is ready to engage in a dialogue with Washington in an effort to achieve stability in Iraq and the surrounding region.