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By Associated PressThe attack is the second known kidnapping of foreign women since the wave of abductions began this year.
BAGHDAD - Gunmen on Tuesday raided the house of an Italian humanitarian group and abducted four hostages, including two Italian women, in a bold daytime assault in the center of the capital, witnesses and police said.
About 15 men in olive green uniforms swarmed outside the office used by the group, "A Bridge To . . .," witnesses said on condition of anonymity.
The men claimed to work for the office of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi - a charge Iraqi authorities denied.
Armed men stormed into the office, placed guns to the heads of the aid group's guards and grabbed the four workers, said Jean-Dominique Bunel of the NGO Coordination Committee in Iraq.
An Iraqi woman resisted, but the kidnappers subdued her and threw her into a car and sped away, witnesses said.
"We had no sign of danger," Lello Rienzi, a spokesman for the group, told reporters in Rome. He said the women "believed they were working in complete security."
The Italians were identified as Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29, the group said. The Iraqis were identified as Raad Ali Aziz and Mahnaz Bassam.
The organization was supplying water and medicines to Fallujah, Najaf and Baghdad.
The attack was the second known kidnapping of foreign women since the wave of kidnappings began this year.
A Japanese aid worker captured in Fallujah in April was released a week later.
In Italy, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi assembled his ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs, as well as with intelligence officials, for an emergency meeting, his office said.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini spoke with his Iraqi counterpart, who "assured the public security forces' full commitment" to obtaining the safe release of the two women, according to a statement released by Berlusconi's office.
Insurgents have kidnapped more than 100 foreigners since the U.S.-led invasion in March 2003.
Numerous Iraqis have been abducted by criminal gangs demanding ransoms.
In another hostage drama, France's foreign minister, Michel Barnier, was prepared to return to the Middle East at any time to help secure the release of two French journalists held in Iraq even as experts continued to analyze whether a ransom demand posted on a Web site was authentic.
The journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, disappeared Aug. 20 on a trip to the southern Iraqi city of Najaf.
Five other Italians have been kidnapped in Iraq, two of whom have been killed. In April, four security guards were abducted, and one was executed. The others were released. Last month, an Italian freelance journalist was kidnapped near Najaf and killed.