Insurgents kidnapped the top official in Iraq's rebellious Anbar province and the deadline set by the captors of an Australian hostage passed with no word on his fate.
Raja Nawaf, who only became governor of Anbar a few days ago, was abducted with four bodyguards on the road from the town of Qaim, near the Syrian border, to the rebel stronghold of Ramadi, his brother, Hamed Nawaf, said.
The kidnappers, supporters of the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, are demanding that Nawaf's tribe release some of the militant leader's followers it is holding, said Nawaf's brother and a member of the Ramadi city council.
US forces said they continued an offensive launched three days ago against rebels in Anbar, along the Euphrates River running from the Syrian border to Ramadi. They said they were meeting "significant resistance" from organised units.
The abduction of the Anbar governor underscored the complex security challenge facing Iraq's new government as it tries to tame lawless regions where Zarqawi's ruthless followers are taking on Iraqi security forces, American troops and tribes.