By Wathiq Ismael Baghdad, Jan 29, (VOI) – Three university professors of law and a student were kidnapped in northern Baghdad by unidentified gunmen, an official source in the higher education and scientific research ministry said on Monday. "The three professors, working in the al-Nahrain law school, were kidnapped on Sunday while they were going home from work in the area of al-Kazimiya, north of Baghdad," the source told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI). "The professors are Adnan al-Abid of Mosul, Amer al-Qisi of Diyala and Abdul-Mutaleb al-Hashimi of al-Anbar," added the source. The source said Dr. al-Hashimi's son, a student at the law school, was kidnapped as he was in the professors' company. The ministry denounced assaults on university professors and called on the security authorities to take whatever measures necessary to protect them and scientific institutions. "The number of university professors assassinated since April 2003 and until the end of 2006 exceeded 185, the detained 142 and the kidnapped more than 52," the ministry said in its statement received by VOI.