American contractor Jeffrey Ake was working on a construction site where a new water treatment plant was being built outside of Baghdad on April 11 when he was abducted by armed men. The Iraqi National Resistance, a Sunni Muslim network dominated by former elements of Saddam Hussein's regime, claimed responsibility for abducting Ake and demanded that U.S. troops leave Iraq. Because they made a demand they know is unlikely to be met — the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq — Ake's abductors probably kidnapped him for ransom. Unlike the notorious al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Iraqi National Resistance is not a jihadist organization. Because it is a secular resistance movement, there is a strong possibility that money, rather than religious fanaticism, was the group's main motivation for Ake's kidnapping. U.S. Embassy officials in Iraq later confirmed Ake's identity, saying he is the president of Equipment Express, a small construction company out of Rolling Prairie, Ind. After knowledge spread that Ake is a company president, the number of ransom demands began increasing, as did the amount of ransom requested. Many different groups will try to get money out of the situation by declaring they have custody of Ake. Meanwhile, if the group actually holding the contractor does not get paid, it could transfer him to another group for money. If al-Zarqawi's group can come up with the money, Ake could end up in the hands of jihadists. This kind of hostage transfer among gangs and militant cells — in which, frequently, a small-time gang abducts a foreigner and offers to give the hostage to a larger group for a price — is common in kidnap-for-ransom crimes in troubled spots around the world. This was a common feature of the kidnappings that took place in Lebanon during the 1980s. More recently, it has been done in Iraq and South America. In Venezuela or Colombia, which has the highest kidnapping rate in the world, criminal gangs will often sell their hostages to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. In Iraq, the practice is catching on. Ake's abduction came after a six-month lull in kidnappings of U.S. citizens. The lull probably is the result of coalition and Iraqi security forces' recent success against the jihadists. As more safe houses are raided and more of their number are killed or arrested, the jihadists could be finding it more difficult to securely hide and move hostages. The lull also could be just a perception, since private companies operating in Iraq commonly bring in hostage negotiators to handle these situations without the U.S. government's knowledge. There is a tendency in the private sector to keep the U.S. Embassy out of the loop when these things occur — the private companies know the official policy is no ransom, and some could fear that Washington will muck up the situation. Many companies just pay the ransom and never tell the U.S. government what they have done. Therefore, nobody has any real idea how many kidnappings have occurred. More than 200 foreigners have been taken captive in Iraq in the past year, and more than 30 of them have been killed. Only 14 U.S. citizens have been abducted, though, and of those, only three were killed. The lower number of American kidnapping victims could be the result of the higher level of security that accompanies most U.S. citizens in Iraq, compared to the security that truck drivers and laborers from Third World countries have. Continued success against the jihadists will not necessarily translate into fewer kidnappings. As coalition and Iraqi security forces continue to foil insurgents, foreigners doing business in Iraq could perceive that security in Iraq is greater and perhaps pay less attention to personal protection. This would make abductions easier and could, therefore, lead to an increase in the number of kidnappings. With security in Iraq still dubious, the business of kidnapping will continue. As jihadist cells continue to be pressed by coalition forces, they could find it to their advantage to continue "outsourcing" kidnapping operations to other groups.