On September 18, 2004, militants have threatened to kill three Western hostages - Briton Kenneth Bigley, and US colleagues Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong- unless all female Iraqi prisoners are set free. Their captors are reportedly allied to al-Qaida militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Al-Jazeera reported Saturday September 18, 2004, that the group Jihad and Unification is threatening to behead the Westerners, Americans Hensley and Eugene Armstrong, and British citizen Kenneth John Bigley, in 48 hours unless female Iraqi prisoners are released from Iraq's Um Qasr and Abu Ghraib prisons. They worked on Iraqi reconstruction projects for Gulf Supplies and Commercial Services, a company based in the Middle East. The US military said it isn't holding any female prisoners at those facilities.
On September 19, 2004, Patty Hensley, the wife of an American taken hostage with two others in Baghdad, has appealed on television for their release. She said her husband Jack was "a simple, generous man" who was "there to help the Iraqi people". Militants have threatened to kill Mr Hensley, American Eugene Armstrong and Briton Kenneth Bigley unless all female Iraqi prisoners are freed. The militants - from a group called the Salafist Brigades of Abu Bakr al-Seddiq - gave the unnamed company three days to withdraw from Iraq.
An execution deadline for two Americans and a Briton kidnapped by militants expired Monday September 20, 2004, with no word on their fate, but an Islamist group released 18 Iraqi soldiers it had threatened to kill. More than a dozen other hostages in Iraq were facing death unless demands by their captors were met.
The family of Briton Kenneth Bigley, who is being held in Iraq by kidnappers, was facing an anxious wait today Tuesday September 21, 2004, as the deadline for his murder loomed. Mr Bigley and two Americans were seized in Baghdad on Thursday and threatened with death unless their abductors' demands were met. Relatives of Mr Bigley made a desperate plea for his freedom, begging he be allowed to return home "safe and sound". In a statement issued to Arab media by Mr Bigley's brother Philip, Kenneth was described as "a loving and caring father" of son Craig, 33. The Foreign Office issued the appeal on the family's behalf as time was running out on the kidnappers' demands that female prisoners allegedly held by coalition authorities in Abu Ghraib and Um Qasr jails be freed. The kidnappers said on Saturday they would kill Mr Bigley, 62, and two other prisoners from the United States unless their demands were met within 48 hours. Iraq has already said it will not bow to the terrorists' demands.
On September 21, 2004, a candlelight vigil is being held in Liverpool for Kenneth Bigley, who is being held captive in Iraq. Mr Bigley, 62, of Liverpool, was taken from his house in Baghdad last week, along with two Americans.
On September 21, 2004, Tony Blair spoke to the family of the British man, Ken Bigley, taken hostage in Iraq. It is thought he said there were "limitations" to what the government could do to secure his release. Tuesday Foreign Secretary Jack Straw also sought to reassure the family of the 62-year-old engineer. Mr Straw is thought to have said the government could not bow to the demands of the captors for Iraqi women prisoners' release. But he wanted to reassure the family British officials in Baghdad were working to help Mr Bigley. Fears are growing over the fates of a British and a US hostage following the murder of their fellow captive, Eugene Armstrong, in Iraq. A video on an Islamic website appeared to show US citizen Eugene Armstrong being beheaded, apparently by top al-Qaida suspect Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The Tawhid and Jihad group, led by Mr Zarqawi, is demanding the release of Iraqi women prisoners. The families of US hostage Jack Hensley and British captive Kenneth Bigley have pleaded for the men's lives.
British hostage in Iraq Ken Bigley has been shown pleading for his life on an Islamist website on September 22, 2004 begging British PM Tony Blair to intervene to save. "I need you to help me now Mr Blair, because you are the only person on God's earth who can help me," he said. "I think this is possibly my last chance, I don't want to die. I don't deserve and neither do the women deserve to be in prison. "Please please release the female prisoners that are held in Iraqi prisons. Please help them. The group has said it will behead Bigley unless female Iraqi prisoners are freed from jail.
On September 23, 2004, the brother of British hostage Kenneth Bigley says the US has "sabotaged" his brother's release by refusing to free a detained woman scientist in Iraq. Kenneth Bigley's Thai wife made an appeal afterwards asking the captors for mercy.
The British and Iraqi governments said on Thursday September 23, 2004, that they would not bow to the demands of militants threatening to kill a British hostage, despite a video message from the captive pleading for his life. The kidnappers say they will behead Kenneth Bigley unless all Iraqi women are freed from US-run jails. After a day of confusion on Wednesday over whether one of two Iraqi women in US custody would be freed, the interim Iraqi government said in a statement that Prime Minister Iyad Allawi was not willing to allow her release.
Foreign secretary Jack Straw said on September 23, 2004, that the UK was doing all it could to secure the release of Kenneth Bigley. Lil Bigley, 86, his mother, said: "Would you please help my son? He is only a workingman who wants to support his family. "Please show mercy to Ken and send him home to me alive. His family need him. I need him." Mrs Bigley, speaking from her home city of Liverpool, fell ill afterwards and was taken to hospital, but later returned home. Her sons Philip, 49, and Stan, 67, said she had asked to be allowed to help.
Two members of the Muslim Council of Britain have landed in Kuwait on September 24, 2004, en route to the Iraqi capital to press for the release of British hostage Ken Bigley. Dr Daud Abdullah and Dr Musharraf Hussain will urge Muslim leaders to put pressure on the kidnappers.
On September 25, 2004, the website (website www.alezah.com) that published a second unsubstantiated claim that two Italian aid workers held hostage in Iraq had been murdered, reported that British captive Kenneth Bigley had been killed too by the group "Tawhid wal Jihad (Unity and Holy War). But the British government swiftly dismissed the announcement as the authenticity of the statement could not be verified. In London, the Foreign Office said it did not take the claim seriously.
A two-man delegation from Britain's biggest Muslim group arrived in Iraq on Saturday September 25, 2004, on a mission to free British hostage Kenneth Bigley, seized by Islamic militants nine days ago and threatened with death. After arriving in Baghdad, the men admitted they faced a tall order to secure the release of the 62-year-old engineer, but said they had faith something could be done. The militants have already executed the two Americans -Eugene Armstrong and Jack Hensley- after their demands to have all female prisoners released from Iraqi jails were not met.
Britain's government is willing to talk to the kidnappers of a British engineer, Prime Minister Tony Blair said Thursday September 30, 2004, but officials stressed they would not pay a ransom or meet any political demands to secure his release. ''Of course, if they make contact, we are ready to talk to them. That is not the same as negotiating,'' Blair said. ''They have made no contact with us.''
A chained British hostage in Iraq begged Tony Blair for help on Wednesday September 29, 2004, increasing the emotional pressure on the prime minister as Italians celebrated the release of two women aid workers after paying a ransom. British construction engineer Kenneth Bigley, 62, was shown chained and squatting in a cage, pleading with Blair to meet the demands of his captors to free women from Iraqi jails. Britain and the United States reject any such negotiations.
British hostage Kenneth Bigley has been shown in a new video screened on the Arab television station Al-Jazeera on September 29, 2004. The engineer is seen shackled in a cage wearing an orange jumpsuit and pleading for help from the Prime Minister. "Tony Blair is lying. He doesn't care about me," Mr Bigley sobbed, looking unwell and distraught. Mr Blair said "everything possible" was being done to secure Mr Bigley's release but said the hostage takers had not made contact.
The government is doing everything it possibly can to help free hostage Ken Bigley, foreign secretary Jack Straw told his family on Thursday September 30, 2004. After a 50-minute meeting with Mr Bigley's son and brother Mr Straw said they had shown "remarkable fortitude" under unimaginable pressures.
The brother of Ken Bigley says he lost two days of his campaign for the Iraq hostage's release when intelligence officers sought evidence at his home on October 2, 2004. Paul Bigley said UK and Dutch officers visited his Amsterdam home and copied computer files relating to his dealings with contacts over the kidnapping.
The brother of British Iraq hostage Ken Bigley says sources in Kuwait believe his sibling is being transferred by hard-line extremists to another group on October 4, 2004. The new group is likely to demand a cash ransom, rather than make political demands.The British government has cautioned that the reports of Ken Bigley's transfer, initially published in a Kuwaiti newspaper, are still unconfirmed.
On October 7, 2004, Iraq's interim Prime Minister has hinted at behind the scenes movement in the case of British hostage Ken Bigley. Ayad Allawi would not comment on whether a ransom was being negotiated. According to BBC News 24, Mr Allawi said: "There are certainly areas which are quite good. We are trying very hard. The situation is dynamic. We don't know whether it will produce a good result."
On October 8, 2004, kidnappers beheaded British hostage Kenneth Bigley after twice releasing videos in which he wept and pleaded with Prime Minister Tony Blair for his life. There was credible information that Bigley had tried to escape with the aid of one of his captors. The attempt failed and Bigley was killed a short time later. There was no word on the fate of his captor. Bigley was the first British hostage killed in Iraq and the 28th overall. He was kidnapped three weeks ago, along with two American co-workers who were beheaded earlier. A videotape sent to Abu Dhabi TV showed Bigley kneeling in front of six masked gunmen. One militant, speaking in Arabic, declared the Briton would be slain because his government refused to release women prisoners detained in Iraq. The speaker then pulled a knife from his belt and severed Bigley's head as three others pinned him down. The tape ended with the killer holding up the severed head. Abu Dhabi TV did not broadcast the videotape of Bigley, saying it refused ''to serve as a mouthpiece for such groups or their actions.'' British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Friday that messages were exchanged with Bigley's kidnappers through an intermediary in Iraq. But he said the militants refused to drop their demands, ''even though they were fully aware there are no women prisoners in our custody in Iraq.'' Meanwhile, one of Bigley's brothers blamed Blair, saying Friday the prime minister has ''blood on his hands.''
The fate of Ken Bigley has hung over Tony Blair's Government for three weeks. The confirmation on October 8, 2004, that the 62-year-old engineer had been killed will increase the political pressure on Downing Street, intensifying the criticism it faces over Iraq. The Government is confident it will avoid a public backlash over the Bigley murder. While Mr Blair offered his sympathy to the Bigley family on television last night, Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, spoke of the diplomatic efforts to secure his release. Mr Straw said: "I don't believe there was, or could have been, anything further we could have done." Ministers had returned from their summer break desperate to switch the political focus from the chaos in Iraq to domestic issues. Their hopes were shattered on 16 September, when the Tawhid and Jihad group snatched Mr Bigley and his American colleagues Jack Hensley and Eugene Armstrong from their Baghdad home. The Government's public line was that it would not negotiate with terrorists, arguing that to do so would encourage more kidnappings. Ministers soon suspected that the kidnappers were using Mr Bigley to manipulate British public opinion. In an emotional address to anti-war delegates at the conference, Ken Bigley's brother Paul accused Mr Blair of signing his "death warrant" by not doing more to secure his release. He called for the hostage-takers' demands to be met.
It was clear on October 9, 2004, that the brutal killing of hostage Kenneth Bigley is ensuring Prime Minister Tony Blair remains mired in the Iraq war despite his efforts to focus voters on domestic issues. The tragic end to Bigley's three-week ordeal has underscored Blair's vulnerability on Iraq, an issue he had hoped would take a back seat as he prepares to seek re-election foreseen to take place in just seven months and hot on the heels of a report from the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) that demolished Blair's main argument for waging war on Iraq.
On October 9, 2004, we were told that British hostage Ken Bigley tried to flee from his captors shortly before his death. Iraqi government sources said that Mr Bigley escaped briefly before being recaptured. He was recaptured in farmland near the town of Latifiya. He never made it to the main street. A day of mourning has taken place in his home city of Liverpool and a two minutes silence was held at noon. Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke to Mr Bigley's family in Liverpool on Saturday night. There were no details about the conversation.
On October 10, 2004, Prime Minister Tony Blair condemned the killers of British hostage Kenneth Bigley as "barbaric," and most of the victim's relatives praised his handling of the crisis. But one of Bigley's brothers said that Blair has "blood on his hands" in Iraq. A US official said there were credible reports that Bigley had tried to escape with the aid of one of his captors. The attempt failed and Bigley was killed a short time later. There was no word on the fate of his captor. Bigley's death could fuel public opposition to Britain's role in the US-led war and anger against Blair, whose popularity has slumped since backing Washington in the offensive.
On June 29, 2005, the family of murdered British hostage Ken Bigley has appealed for his body to be released, to end its ordeal. The Tawhid and Jihad Iraqi militant group in Baghdad took hostage Mr Bigley, a 62-year-old engineer from Liverpool, on 16 September. He was beheaded two weeks later but his family has not held a funeral because his body has never been found.
The UK Foreign Office is following up claims that the decapitated body of murdered hostage Ken Bigley is buried near Falluja in Iraq on April 22, 2006. Osman Karahan, lawyer for suspected al-Qaeda militant Louia Sakka, 33, told a news conference the body was buried in a ditch at the entrance to the city. Mr Sakka had been the president of an informal "court" which sentenced Mr Bigley to death. Mr Sakka is to stand trial in Turkey over bombings in Istanbul in 2003. The Tawhid and Jihad Iraqi militant group killed Mr Bigley on 8 October 2004. He had been working on an engineering project when he was kidnapped along with two Americans, Eugene Armstrong and Jack Henley, who were also murdered.
6.2.2 US Marine Wassef Ali Hassoun
Marine Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun. Failed to report for duty in Iraq June 20.
Videotaped images showed him apparently kidnapped. Emerged unharmed in Lebanon,
July 8. Brought back to the United States. Denies having deserted.
On June 27, 2004, we were told that a US Marine, Wassef Ali Hassoun, an American of Lebanese origin, was taken hostage a few days ago in Iraq. Now his captors are threatening to have him beheaded unless Iraqi prisoners are freed. The Americans confirm that a Marine of that name was missing but they are not certain that he is the hostage even if he appeared on al-Jazeera television. On July 3, US officials say they are checking reports that a group, Ansar al-Sunna, believed to have links to al-Qaida, has beheaded Cpl Wassef Ali Hassoun. The announcement of his alleged death was posted on an Islamic website. The Lebanese foreign ministry said it had confirmation of the killing, but did not know when it had happened.
On July 5, 2004, the Islamic Response Movement, the captors of Wassef Ali Hassoun, the US Marine hostage, said that he was well and alive. He was taken to a safe house after he pledged not to return to the US army. According to the movement he is now free. He is now believed to be a deserter. On July 6, his family said that he had been freed. Hassoun reappeared in Beirut, Lebanon under unknown circumstances. He was first interrogated at the local US embassy and he will soon be transferred back to the US where the military authorities hope to clarify his case.
On July 14, 2004, the US Marine, Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun, who claimed he was held hostage in Iraq was on his way back home to the United States from Ramstein air base in Germany Wednesday. He issued a brief statement saying he was "looking forward" to being reunited with friends and families in America. He arrived in the USA on July 15 and he now faces interrogation.
Cpl. Wassef Ali Hassoun, the Marine who disappeared under mysterious circumstances while on duty in Iraq, insisted on Monday July 19, 2004, that he was captured by insurgents and that he is still a loyal Marine. "I did not desert my post," he told reporters outside Quantico Marine Corps Base. "I was captured and held against my will by anti-coalition forces for 19 days."
On August 9, 2004, what we know about the story of Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoum
can be described as follow:
- On June 20, the Lebanese born American Marine went missing from his base
near Falluja, Iraq. The military said that he was on "unauthorised leave".
- On June 27, he was shown on the al-Jazeera television network blindfolded
and with a sword at his head. His captors said that he would be beheaded if
all Iraqi prisoners were not released.
- On June 29, the US military authorities reclassified him as "captured".
- On July 3, his murder was posted on the Internet. He was accused by his
captors to have had an affair with a Muslim woman.
- On July 4, another message said that he was alive and on July 5, they said
that he was in a safe place.
- On July 6, his family in Lebanon said that they had received a sign that
he was alive.
- On July 8, he arrived at the American embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
- From there he was flown to Germany then to the USA and now he is in camp
Lejeune, North Carolina where he is debriefed.
In fact, we do not know what happened to him and why! The only thing certain
is that his family in Lebanon is very powerful and this explains perhaps why
he was not killed.
On December 9, 2004, Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun who appeared to have been kidnapped in Iraq before reappearing in Lebanon was charged with desertion, government properties theft (his gun) and wrongful appropriation of an Army vehicle. He could be sentenced to five years in prison for desertion and ten more years for the other charges if found guilty.
On January 5, 2005, the Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun famous for having claimed to have been kidnapped in Iraq to reappear later on in Lebanon was charged of desertion for the second time. He failed to come back to Camp Lejeune after an authorised holiday leave.
On January 14, 2005, Marine Corporal Wassef Ali Hassoun's name was put on the list of "Most Wanted Fugitives" after deserting for a second time.
6.2.3 Margaret Hassan
Gunmen seized the head of CARE International's operations in Iraq, Margaret
Hassan, a woman who has worked on behalf of Iraqis for three decades on Tuesday
October 19, 2004. Mr Blair said Ms Hassan was well respected and had been
doing her "level best" to help Iraq. The government would do everything
it could to secure her release, but did not know which group was holding her,
he said.
On October 20, 2004, CARE suspended its humanitarian relief efforts in Iraq one day after gunman kidnapped the British-born woman who for decades has led the group's drive to improve living conditions here. The kidnapping of Margaret Hassan, who is in her 60s and has been critical of the US-led invasion of Iraq, triggered appeals for her release from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Muslim humanitarian groups. Hassan's husband, Tahseen, said he had not been contacted about any ransom demands and pleaded for his wife's release on Arabic-language satellite channel Al Arabiya.
On October 22, 2004, Mrs Margaret Hassan, the British/Iraqi woman, the head aid worker in Iraq, kidnapped a few days ago pleaded with the British people to tell Blair not to send British troops in central Iraq. She is afraid that he does not she will be killed like Ken Bigley.
On October 27, 2004, Mrs Margaret Hassan an Iraqi/British hostage appealed again to Blair to halt the deployment of British troops near Baghdad to save her life.
On November 2, 204, Margaret Hassan's kidnappers threatened to turn her over to an al-Qaida group within 48 hours if Britain refuses to pull its troops out of Iraq.
On November 5, 2004, the insurgent group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi asked that the British/Iraqi woman kidnapped some time ago, Mrs Margaret Hassan, be released. It promised to release her if she fell into their hands.
On November 16, 2004, it looks like the kidnappers have killed Margaret Hassan, the director of the CARE charity in Iraq, and a British/Irish/Iraqi hostage. A video showing a female hostage being shot has been broadcasted by the television network al-Jazeera. It was not certain that it was Mrs Hassan but, with the exception of a Polish woman, no other woman are known to have been taken hostage. Her husband, family as well as the British Foreign Office believe that it is her who was shot.
On Sunday May 1, 2005, three men have been arrested over the kidnap and killing of 59-year-old British aid worker Margaret Hassan. Police said they found ID, clothing and a handbag belonging to Dublin-born Mrs Hassan, who was abducted on 19 October. A video showing her apparent death was released a month later but her body has never been recovered. Iraqi police said five suspects had confessed to the killing of Mrs Hassan but there is no confirmation of this.
British embassy sources in Iraq said on May 2, 2005, that a fourth person had been arrested in connection with the murder of aid worker Margaret Hassan.
On June 5, 2006, a court in Baghdad sentenced Mustafa Salman al-Jubouri, an Iraqi national, to life in jail after convicting him of involvement in the kidnap and killing of British aid worker Margaret Hassan in 2004.
On June 2, 2009, a member of the gang that kidnapped and murdered UK aid worker Margaret Hassan has been jailed for life in Baghdad. Mrs Hassan, 59, director of Care International in Iraq, was kidnapped as she made her way to work in the city in October 2004. Dublin-born Mrs Hassan -an Irish, UK and Iraqi citizen- was shot dead weeks later. Her body has never been found.
On April 6, 2010, the retrial of a man previously convicted of involvement in the kidnap and murder of UK aid worker Margaret Hassan has been postponed. Ali Lutfi Jassar was jailed for life in 2009, but appealed the conviction and won the right to a retrial. Mrs Hassan, 59, director of Care International in Iraq, was kidnapped in Baghdad in October 2004.
An Iraqi engineer convicted of kidnapping and killing British aid worker Margaret Hassan in 2004 failed to show up in court on Thursday July 15, 2010, and is thought to have escaped, a lawyer for her family said. Ali Lutfi Jassar was sentenced to life in prison on June 2 last year for his role in one of the most high-profile murders to follow the US-led invasion of 2003, a crime which sparked international revulsion and widespread sympathy.
The convicted Iraqi mastermind of the killing of British aid worker Margaret Hassan escaped from prison almost one year ago, we were told on Sunday August 22, 2010. Ali Lutfi Jassar al-Rawi, sentenced to life last year for Hassan's murder, busted out of Central Baghdad Prison, formerly known as the infamous Abu Ghraib jail, on September 10, 2009, the same day a riot broke out there. Judicial officials have in recent months said Rawi was "missing," forcing several postponements of his retrial for the killing. But after another aborted court hearing on Sunday, Iraq's Deputy Justice Minister Busho Ibrahim told AFP that Rawi was officially on the run.
6.2.4 Prime Minister Allawi's relatives
On November 10, 2004, an insurgent group said that they have kidnapped three
relatives of the interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. They are his cousin Ghazi
Allawi, his cousin's wife and their daughter-in-Law. They are threatening
to kill them if the assault on Falluja does not stop. Another group claimed
20 Iraqi National Guards are kept prisoners in Falluja.
On November 14, 2004, we were told that the kidnapers had released two female relatives of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. The Iraqi government could not confirm the information.
On November 21, 2004, Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's cousin, Ghazi Allawi, 75 years old was released by his kidnappers after being kept hostage for two weeks.
6.2.5 Malbrunot and Chesnot
Christian Chesnot, 37, and George Malbrunot, 41, French journalists. Disappeared
August 21 while apparently driving toward Najaf.
On August 28, 2004, we were told that two French journalists, Christian Chesnot of Radio France International, and Georges Malbrunot, of Paris daily Le Figaro, have been taken hostage in Iraq by Islamic militants demanding the rescinding of a ban on the Islamic headscarf in French schools. The pair went missing on August 20 after leaving Baghdad for the Iraqi Shiite holy city of Najaf, where US forces were fighting Shiite Muslim militiamen. The kidnappers from the Islamic Army in Iraq, the same group that killed Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni after taking him hostage, gave Paris a 48-hour ultimatum to meet its demands.
On August 29, 2004, the French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin held an emergency meeting with senior colleagues to discuss the kidnapping of two journalists in Iraq. An Iraqi group holding the journalists - RFI's Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot of Le Figaro- wants a reversal of a ban on Islamic headscarves in French schools.
The French government has been mobilized on Sunday August 29, 2004, over the kidnapping of two French journalists, Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot, in Iraq, denouncing the ultimatum of the kidnappers. The Foreign Minister Michel Barnier leaves Paris immediately for the region to prepare the necessary contact and coordinate the efforts of our representatives" at the spot to win the liberation of the journalists taken in hostage in Iraq.
On September 6, 2004, a message by Iraqi militants holding two French journalists hostage demanded a $5 million ransom and set a 48-hour deadline. The statement, posted on an internet site in the name of the Islamic Army in Iraq, brought a mood of cautious optimism in France that Christian Chesnot and Georges Malbrunot would be freed soon. The militants had previously planned to release the men but attacks had prevented them from doing so, said the statement.
On September 8, 2004, confusion surrounded the fate of two French journalists held hostage in Iraq after a new statement from the kidnappers denied they had demanded a $5 million ransom or set a 48-hour deadline. Another statement on the same Web site said the group was warning "any party whatsoever from interfering" in the case of the French hostages. The men have not been seen since August 28 when Arabic television station Al Jazeera broadcast a brief video tape of what it said were the two journalists standing in front of an Islamic Army in Iraq banner. Al Jazeera said the kidnappers had demanded the French government scrap a ban on Muslim headscarves in state schools and had given Paris 48 hours to comply.
On September 29, 2004, France was involved in their Iraq hostage drama when a freelance negotiator, disowned by Paris officials, said the two French journalists held for six weeks could be freed in days. A condition, the French mediator said, was for US forces to provide safe passage between the rebel towns of Falluja and Ramadi, where Iraq's defence minister said US and Iraqi troops were about to launch offensives to re-establish their control.
On August 30, 2004, the captors of two French journalists in Iraq have extended by 24 hours an ultimatum to Paris to revoke a ban on Islamic headscarves in state schools after the original deadline expired. It also showed the two journalists appealing the French government to rescind the ban.
The release of two French journalists held in Iraq since August was delayed Friday October 1, 2004, when a group of Iraqis transporting them was bombarded by US forces. The group of Iraqis was due to drive French journalists Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot to Syria Friday but was delayed by the firing. Six Iraqis were killed but the French journalists were unharmed.
On October 4, 2004, French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin has met ministers for a crisis meeting on two French journalists held hostage in Iraq as efforts to secure their release threatened to turn into a fiasco. A row broke out between the government and two self-appointed negotiators whose parallel mediations on behalf of Georges Malbrunot and Christian Chesnot collapsed at the weekend.
President Jacques Chirac appealed for national unity Tuesday October 5, 2004, to try to stem criticism of France's failure to secure the release of two French journalists held in Iraq and restore faith in French diplomacy. Echoing Chirac, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin defended the government's handling of the crisis, saying a failed mission by two self-appointed mediators last week had derailed official mediation just as the hostages were about to be freed. He denied suggestions that Chirac and the government had any involvement in the freelance mission by parliamentarian Didier Julia and businessman Philippe Brett.
On December 24, 2004, one of the two French journalists held hostage for about four months in Iraq, Malbrunot, said that their captors wanted Bush to be re-elected. He added that this would boost their cause: "We want Bush to be re-elected because with him the American troops will stay in Iraq and that way we will be able to develop."
6.2.6 Giuliana Sgrena
Gunmen who blocked her car near the Baghdad University abducted Giuliana Sgrena,
a 56-year-old journalist for the communist newspaper Il Manifesto, earlier
Friday February 4, 2005. No group has claimed responsibility for the abduction,
but the Italian government has said it believed militants from Iraq's Sunni
Muslim minority might be behind the kidnapping. Premier Silvio Berlusconi
said, "negotiations have been set in motion."
On Saturday February 5, 2005, an internet message by a militant group has threatened to kill Ms Sgrena by Monday if the Italian government does not withdraw its troops from Iraq. It is not clear whether the message - signed by Jihad Organisation - came from a group with a similar name - the Islamic Jihad Organisation - that said it abducted the journalist as she was interviewing people in a Baghdad street. Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has said Italy is trying to secure the negotiated release of Ms Sgrena's, a veteran journalist with the left-wing "Il Manifesto newspaper."
On Saturday February 5, 2005, police questioned the driver and translator of Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena who was seized by gunmen Friday near Baghdad University, the first reported kidnapping of a foreigner since last weekend's election. But police said the two were not suspects in her abduction.
Thousands of people marched in Rome on Saturday February 19, 2005, to demand the release of a kidnapped Italian journalist, days after she was seen in a video pleading for Italians to pressure their government to withdraw the nation's troops from Iraq. The rally had been planned days before a shocked Italy on Wednesday watched a video in which 56-year-old Giuliana Sgrena, who was abducted in Baghdad on Feb. 4, pleads for her life and demands the end to the deployment of Italy's 3,000-strong military force in Iraq. The hostage's father, Franco Sgrena, said he was heartened as he watched hundreds of people stream toward the march's starting point.
Kidnapped Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena has been shown begging for help and urging US-led troops to leave Iraq in a new videotape broadcasted on February 15, 2005. Speaking in Italian and French she adds: "I ask the Italian government, the Italian people struggling against the occupation, I ask my husband, please, help me."
On February 15, 2005, the Italian television broadcasted pictures of the 56-year-old journalist Giuliana Sgrena, who is being held hostage in Iraq, appealing for help. Relatives and colleagues of the journalist, who works for the leftist newspaper Il Manifesto, were relieved to see she was still alive. Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini said all efforts to obtain her release would continue, but he made clear Italy would not change its strategy in Iraq.
On February 22, 2005, Italy's President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi has made a fresh appeal to the kidnappers of Giuliana Sgrena, the Italian journalist held hostage in Iraq for the past three weeks. To her family, I want to reiterate the solidarity of all the Italian people."
Her captors freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena on Friday March 4, 2005, but US forces in Iraq mistakenly opened fire on the convoy taking her to safety, wounding her and killing an Italian secret service agent. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said he had immediately summoned the US ambassador, declaring someone had to take responsibility for American soldiers opening fire. The agent had been shot dead by US forces at a checkpoint and that Sgrena had been wounded in the shoulder. In Washington, the Pentagon said "multinational forces" had opened fire on a speeding vehicle in Baghdad, causing the death and wounding Sgrena. The 57-year-old Sgrena was kidnapped on February 4. Insurgents later released a video of her sobbing and wringing her hands as she pleaded for Italian troops to leave Iraq.
Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena has arrived in Rome on March 5, 2005, a day after being rescued from her Iraqi kidnappers -and wounded by US gunfire in Baghdad. Ms Sgrena looked weak as she got off the plane before heading by ambulance to a military hospital in Rome. She told Italian radio of the "rain of fire" on her car, which she said was not going particularly fast. The US military has said soldiers fired at the car after its occupants ignored requests to stop at a checkpoint. US President George W Bush has pledged to fully investigate the shooting, in which an Italian security agent died. Some Italian press reports say a ransom was paid. President George W. Bush telephoned Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi on Friday to express regret about the killing of an Italian security agent and the wounding of freed Italian journalist Giuliana Sgrena by US forces at a checkpoint in Iraq.
Italian hostage Giuliana Sgrena, shot and wounded after being freed in Iraq, said Sunday March 6, 2005, that US forces may have deliberately targeted her because Washington opposed Italy's policy of dealing with kidnappers. She offered no evidence for the claim that reflected growing anger in Italy over the conduct of the war, which has claimed more than 20 Italian lives, including secret agent Nicola Calipari who rescued her moments before being killed. The shooting Friday evening has sparked tension with Italy's US allies and put pressure on Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to take a hard line with President Bush.
6.2.7 Florence Aubenas
Florence Aubenas, a correspondent for the French newspaper Liberation held
hostage in Iraq has appeared on a video pleading for help on March 1, 2005,
saying her health is "very bad". It is thought she and her interpreter,
Hussein Hanoun al-Saadi, were snatched from a car in Baghdad on 5 January.
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin expressed concern about them and said
the government was working to secure their release.
On June 3, 2005, the French journalist Florence Aubenas (from the newspaper Liberation} and her Iraqi guide, Hussein Hanoun, have been hostage in Iraq for about 150 days. They are believed to be alive but not much else.
On June 12, 2005, we were told that the French journalist -Florence Aubenas- from the newspaper "Liberation" was released by her kidnappers in Iraq together with her guide Hussein Hanoun. They had been kidnapped on January 6, 2005. It is not known if a ransom was paid. Florence Aubenas was flown to Villacoublay in the evening while Hasoun decided to remain in Baghdad with his family. The media played the return of the journalist as a national event.
On June 14, 2005, the conditions of the liberation of the French journalist Florence Aubenas and her Iraqi guide Hussein Haroun are not yet known. Some people say that a ransom has been paid but the French authorities deny it. Let us wait and we will know! Mrs Aubenas has been de-briefed by the French Security specialists and she has given many interviews to the newspapers and the television.
On June 14, 2005, the conditions of the liberation of Florence Aubenas have not yet been clarified. All she said was that she was kept in a cell 4m long, 2m wide and 1.5 m high, alone at the beginning, together with Hussein Haroun later. Both their hands and legs were attached. What is not known are the links, if any, with the three Rumanian hostages liberated before. The Rumanians say that they were kept together with Florence and Hussein but Florence seems to disagree. Also according to the Rumanians, they identified Florence and Hussein's jail and this information was useful for their liberation.
Hussein Hanoun, the Iraqi who was held hostage with Florence Aubenas in Iraq is expected in Paris on June 16, 2005. His wife and his younger son will accompany him. It is not known how long he will remain in France.
6.2.8 Three Romanian journalists
On April 11, 2005, Romanian President Traian Basescu's office said three Romanian
journalists kidnapped along with their guide nearly two weeks ago in Iraq
were believed to be alive and authorities were optimistic they would return
home. A group claiming to have kidnapped a Pakistani official in Iraq has
demanded money for his release. Malik Mohammed Javed, a deputy counsellor
at the Pakistani mission in Baghdad, went missing late Saturday after leaving
home for prayers at a nearby mosque.
Three Romanian journalists, Marie- Jeanne Ion, Sorin Miscoci and Ovidiu Ohanesian were kidnapped near Baghdad March 28 appeared today in a videotape aired by al-Jazeera. Flanked by gunmen, Ion pleaded for her life and asked for Romanian troops to leave Iraq.
Three Romanian reporters who were held hostage in Iraq for two months were back home on May 26, 2005. Prima TV reporter Marie Jeanne Ion, 32, cameraman Sorin Miscoci, 30, and reporter for Romania Libera daily Ovidiu Ohanesian, 37 returned home on a military flight. The three, apparently in good health but weakened, spent three days in isolation at an undisclosed location in Romania for medical checks.
Romania on May 27, 2005, charged the translator for three Romanian journalists who were held in Iraq for 55 days, and an Arab businessman, of orchestrating the kidnapping. Prosecutors said the reporters' guide, Mohammad Munaf, who was seized with the journalists on March 28, and Romanian-Syrian businessman Omar Hayssam were charged with "initiating, funding and coordinating the March 28 kidnapping." The general prosecutor's office said the kidnapping was part of an elaborate plot aimed at turning Hayssam into a hero in Romania in the hope that it would help him escape potential punishment for previous charges of organised crime and economic-financial wrongdoings.
On June 16, 2005, we were told that the three Rumanian hostages were freed because their security services had kept their previous contacts with their Iraqi colleagues. During the communist regime the Romanian "Securitate" had close contact with the security people of the Baath regime of Saddam Hussein. Apparently the old contacts were used to help the liberation of the three Romanians. As they were kept in the same place that Florence Aubenas and Hussein Hanoun, the same contacts could have been used to liberate the French journalist and her guide. The intervention of the member of the French parliament, Didier Julia, is not yet clear but it is now certain that he was involved in some ways.
6.2.9 Egyptian ambassador
Egypt's new ambassador to Iraq has been kidnapped on July 2, 2005, five weeks
after arriving in the country. Gunmen in Baghdad seized Ihab al-Sherif as
he was buying a newspaper. An Egyptian foreign ministry spokesman called on
his kidnappers to treat him well and to see him as an Arab patriot. Mr Sherif
arrived in Baghdad on 1 June as Egypt's top diplomat, and was subsequently
upgraded to ambassador.
Gunmen ambushed two more top diplomats from Muslim countries diplomats, Bahrain and Pakistan, Tuesday July 5, 2005, in apparent kidnap bids that seemed aimed at scaring off foreign governments and isolating Iraq from the Arab world. Pakistan announced the withdrawal of its ambassador. Insurgents were hoping to sow a climate of fear and send a message "to the Arab countries not to open embassies in Iraq and to prevent security, economic and political overtures to Iraq. Bahrain's top envoy in Iraq, Hassan Malallah al-Ansari, was slightly wounded as he drove to work in the Mansour district. Pakistan's Ambassador Mohammed Younis Khan escaped injury later when gunmen in two cars fired on his convoy in a kidnap attack in the same district. Both envoys would leave the country temporarily, their governments said after the attacks.
A message posted on the Internet on July 6, 2005, said a group calling itself al-Qaida in Iraq carried out the abduction of the Egyptian envoy in Baghdad, Ambassador Ihab al-Sherif. The statement purporting to be from the militant group, which is led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, is the first claim of responsibility for the kidnapping.
A leading al-Qaida militant suspected of involvement in the kidnapping and killing of Egypt's envoy to Iraq has been captured on July 9, 2005. Khamis Farhan Abed al-Fahdawi, also known as Abu Seba, was reportedly held in the town of Ramadi. A group headed by al-Qaida's leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said last week it had killed Egyptian envoy Ihab al-Sherif, days after he was kidnapped. The death of the Egyptian envoy sparked a row between Baghdad and Cairo, when Iraqi officials claimed Mr Sherif had been liaising with militants before he was abducted. Egypt demanded an apology from Iraq.
6.2.10 Algerian diplomats
Gunmen seized two Algerian diplomats Thursday July 21, 2005 - including the
country's top envoy to Iraq. The abductions brought to five the number of
key diplomats from Islamic countries targeted in Baghdad in less than three
weeks. The top Egyptian envoy was reportedly killed after being captured,
and two apparent kidnapping attempts against diplomats were foiled. The chief
of Algeria's mission in Iraq, charge d'affaires Ali Belaroussi, and another
Algerian diplomat, Azzedine Ben Kadi, were dragged from their car along with
their driver in west Baghdad's upscale Mansour district. Belaroussi, a career
diplomat, has been in Iraq for about two years, and served as financial director
at Algeria's embassy in Paris from 1997 to 2002. No group claimed responsibility
for the kidnapping of the Algerians.
Al-Qaida in Iraq says it has kidnapped the chief of the Algerian mission in Baghdad, according to an internet statement published on July 23, 2005. Algerian mission chief Ali Belaroussi and the diplomatic attache were snatched by gunmen in Baghdad. Al-Qaida in Iraq had earlier kidnapped and killed Egyptian mission chief Ihab el-Sherif.
On Sunday July 24, 2005, a group claiming to be al-Qaida in Iraq has said it kidnapped two Algerian diplomats who were snatched in Baghdad on Thursday. Insurgents loyal to the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq, Abu Masab al-Zarqawi, posted the claim on a website. Ali Balarousi, Algeria's top envoy to the country, and his colleague, Azzedin Belkadi, were seized in Mansour. The authenticity of the claim could not be verified. No images of the men or proof of their identity was offered.
Two Algerian diplomats taken captive in Iraq last week were killed, their government and the United Nations confirmed on July 27, 2005. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters in New York that the envoys had been slain and he called their deaths ``senseless and brutal.'' Algeria's ambassador to the UN, Abdallah Baali, also confirmed the murders. A statement posted on a Web site by al-Qaida in Iraq, led by the Jordanian fugitive Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, said the diplomats were killed because of the repression of Muslims in their country. Balarousi Ali, Algeria's charge d'affaires, or chief of mission, and Azzedine Ben Kadi, were dragged from their car July 21 by gunmen in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital.
6.2.11 Quattocchi, Umberto Cupertino, Maurizio Agliana and Salvatore Stefio
- On April 14, 2004, one of four Italian hostages, Fabrizio Quattrocchi, was
murdered with a shot in the head as Prime Minister Berlusconi's refusal to
pull the 3,000 Italian soldiers out of Iraq. The kidnappers threatened to
kill the three others if their demand was not met. The television network
al-Jazeera has a video of the killing but refused to broadcast it because
it is too "bloody". The Italians called him a "hero" after
he told his killer before being killed "Now I will show you how an Italian
dies"; he then tried to rip off the hood. Berlusconi's government came
under renewed criticism for its involvement in Iraq but they decided to stay
there as long as it takes.
- On April 26, the Iraqi armed group that is holding the three Italian hostages, Green Brigade, threatened to kill them within five days unless a large number of Italians protested against their country's involvement in Iraq. With the message, Al-Arabiya broadcasted a video showing them.
- On April 20, 2004, it looked like the three Italians held hostage in Iraq
would soon be freed after the Italian government agreed to pay a ransom. If
this were true, it would upset the British and American governments, as it
would appear to encourage further kidnapping.
- On April 29, 2004, thousand of people marched in the streets of Rome to
ask for the liberation of the three Italian hostages still kept prisoners
in Iraq. The demonstrators asked for the Pope's help.
- The hostage Fabrizio Quattrocchi who was murdered in Iraq in April was buried
in Genoa, Italy, on May 29, 2004.
- On June 8, 2004, the three Italian held hostages in Iraq since April 12
have been liberated by the American Special Forces in Baghdad. Umberto Cupertino,
Maurizio Agliana and Salvatore Stefio will go back to Italy as soon as possible.
- On June 9, 2004, the three Italians held hostages in Iraq for about two
months came back home on the Prime Minister's plane. The anti-terrorist police
immediately interrogated them, as there was some suspicions that their presence
in Iraq was illegal as the law forbid Italian citizens from armed missions
abroad. The three hostages complained that they had been badly treated by
their captors.
6.2.12 Angelo dela Cruz
- On July 9, 2004, many Philippini citizens and organisations appealed to
President Arroyo to immediately order the pullout of the Philippine contingent
in Iraq in order to save the life of Filipino driver Angelo de la Cruz from
his Iraqi captors. The extremist Iraqis have threatened to behead the Filipino
worker if their demand is not met within 72-hour.
- On July 10, 2004, there were conflicting reports about the fate of a Filipino
truck driver, Angelo dela Cruz, held hostage in Iraq. Angelo dela Cruz was
kidnapped and threatened with death, unless his government pulled its troops
out of Iraq. The Philippine government said that its humanitarian force (51
members) will be pulled out of Iraq in August but that it did not mean giving
in to terrorist demands.
- On July 16, 2004, The Philippines recalled the commander of its peacekeeping
force from Iraq along with 10 other members, but the Filipino truck driver
hostage was still kept in captivity. Earlier the government withdrew eight
of its 51-member contingent, more than a month ahead of schedule. That leaves
32 of the Filipino group in Iraq, but the rest of the members of the contingent
will be out of Iraq shortly.
- On July 17, 2004, Brigadier General Jovito Talparan, the head of the Philippines'
forces in Iraq, and 10 members arrived in Kuwait on their way to Manila. All
peacekeeping troops from Philippine should be out of Iraq within a week as
the remaining members of Philippines forces in Iraq will leave the country
on Monday July 19 after handing over their duties. The Philippines completed
the withdrawal of its humanitarian military contingent in Iraq on July 19,
a month ahead of schedule, in a bid to save the life of hostage Angelo de
la Cruz, a father of eight who guerrillas have threatened to execute.
- Mr Angelo de la Cruz was freed on July 20 after the Philippine withdrew
their soldiers from Iraq. He was home in The Philippines on July 22 and he
received a great welcome.
6.2.13 Micah Garen
- On August 16, 2004, a Western journalist, Micah Garen, and his Iraqi translator,
Amir Doushi, were kidnapped by two armed men in a busy market in the southern
Iraqi city of Nasiriyah, police said Monday. According to witnesses in the
market, the journalist and the translator were walking when two men in civilian
clothes and armed with Kalashnikov assault rifles seized them. Garen was a
journalist with US-French citizenship who worked for the US-based Four Corners
Media and was working on a project involving antiquities near Nasiriyah.
- On August 19, 2004, a militant group, the Martyrs Brigade, said it has kidnapped
a missing Western journalist and would kill him if US forces did not leave
the holy city of Najaf within 48 hours. They released a video showing Micah
Garen, who had been taken in Nasiriyah along with his Iraqi translator, Amir
Doushi. The kidnappers threatened to kill Garen within two days if US forces
did not leave Najaf.
- Kidnapped French/American journalist Micah Garen was released on August
22, 2004, in the southern city of Nasiriyah. The kidnappers had wanted to
use Garen as a pawn to stop a US-led Iraqi offensive against Shiite militiamen
in Najaf.
- Micah Garen, a French/American held hostage in Iraq, appeared in a videotape
on al-Jazeera television and called on the United States to stop the bloodshed
in the Iraqi city of Najaf.
-
6.2.14 Enzo Baldoni
- On August 21, 2004, an Italian freelance journalist remained missing in
Iraq but his Iraqi interpreter may have been found dead. Enzo Baldoni has
been considered missing for two days, when the Foreign Ministry announced
he had not checked in with Italian officials in Iraq, as is customary.
- On August 24, 2004, the Abu Hafs Masri Brigade, a group claiming ties to
the Al Qaida terrorist network, announced that it was holding Italian journalist
Enzo Baldoni, 56, who disappeared on his way to Najaf last week. The group
threatened to kill Baldoni in 48 hours unless Italy withdrew troops from Iraq.
- On August 24, 2004, Italy's Government said that it will keep its troops
in Iraq despite a demand by militants holding an Italian journalist hostage
that Italian forces pull out within 48 hours. The journalist, Enzo Baldoni,
was shown on a video broadcast by Al-Jazeera satellite television. The militant
group, calling itself "The Islamic Army in Iraq said in a statement that
it could not guarantee his safety unless Italy announced within 48 hours that
it will withdraw its troops from Iraq.
- On August 24, 2004 militants who are holding Italian journalist Enzo Baldoni
are demanding that Italy pull out its troops within 48 hours. The Italian
government says its 3,000 soldiers will remain in the country. A militant
group is releasing Lebanese hostage Mohammad Raad, a truck driver who went
missing in Iraq earlier this month, according to a video aired by Arab TV
channels.
- Enzo Baldoni, Italian journalist. On August 26, 2004 Arab television received
video footage of Baldon's killing by militants but did not broadcast tape
because of gruesome content. Italian President Silvio Berlusconi condemned
the killing.
- On August 27, 2004, Italy insisted that the killing of an Italian journalist
in Iraq by Islamic kidnappers would not shake its resolve to keep troops in
Iraq. Enzo Baldoni became the first journalist to die at the hands of hostage-takers.
His execution was condemned across Italy with political leaders vowing not
to give in to blackmail.
- On August 27, 2004, the Italian journalist and Red Cross aid worker, Enzo
Baldoni, was killed by his kidnappers, the Islamic Army, in Iraq after Italy
refused to pull its 3,000 troops out of Iraq within 48 hours as requested.
Diplomats in the Gulf have seen video footage of the hostage being shot in
the head. Baldoni reportedly struggled with his captors moments before being
killed. He disappeared on 19 August south of Baghdad. On August 26, Foreign
Minister Franco Frattini offered to withdraw the Italian troops from Iraq
if requested to do so by the interim government in Baghdad. Obviously this
did not satisfy the kidnappers. Italy has expressed outrage at the killing.
6.2.15 Simona Pari and Simona Torretta
- On September 7, 2004, gunmen raided the house of Italian humanitarian group
and abducted four hostages, including two Italian women, in a bold daytime
assault in the center of the capital. About 15 men in olive green uniforms
entered the office used by the group, "A Bridge To ...,"claiming
to work for the office of interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. The two Italians
were identified as Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29. The two Iraqis
were identified as Raad Ali Aziz and Mahnaz Bassam. The organization was supplying
water and medicines to Falluja, Najaf and Baghdad. Insurgents have kidnapped
more than 100 foreigners since the US-led invasion in March 2003. Numerous
Iraqis have also been abducted by criminal gangs demanding ransoms. 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 other three
were released. Last month, an Italian freelance journalist was kidnapped near
Najaf and killed.
- On September 7, 2004, there is fear for two Italian women aid workers taken
hostage in Iraq by gunmen who stormed their Baghdad offices in broad daylight.
The Ansar al-Zawahri group has claimed responsibility for the capture of Simona
Pari and Simona Torretta, seized with two Iraqis. A spokesman for foreign
aid agencies in Iraq said most are expected to leave. Italy's opposition parties
- who strongly opposed the country's involvement in the Iraq war - said after
a meeting with Mr Berlusconi that they will work with his government towards
the release of the two women.
- On September 15, 2004, Italy's Foreign Minister Franco Frattini has called
for the release of two Italian women also being held hostage in Iraq. Iraqi
President Ghazi al-Yawar says his Government is exerting all efforts to secure
the safe return of two Italian aid workers and two French reporters.
- On September 23, 2004, Italy's government dismissed two Internet statements
saying two women Italian aid workers kidnapped in Iraq had been killed, saying
there was no evidence to confirm the claims.
- Two kidnapped Italian aid workers were freed Tuesday September 28, 2004
after three weeks of captivity in Iraq, and six other hostages in the country
were also released. The release of Italians Simona Pari and Simona Torretta
brought a sense of relief to their home country -which has seen two Italian
hostages killed since April and feared the two women had met the same fate
after claims of their death were posted on the Web last week. While the Italians
were being held, other kidnappers beheaded two US hostages. "Finally
a moment of joy," Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said, announcing
to the Parliament in Rome that the two Italians and two Iraqis kidnapped with
them were handed over to the Red Cross in Baghdad. It was not known whether
a ransom had been paid.
- The Kuwaiti daily which predicted the release of two Italian hostages in
Iraq said on Wednesday September 29, 2004, that the captors had originally
demanded a $5 million ransom but settled for $1 million in the end. The clerics
mediating for the Italians' release, Roz, had strongly urged the captors against
killing Italian charity workers Simona Pari and Simona Torretta.
- The two Italian aid workers released from captivity in Iraq have described
on September 29, 2004, their abductors as religious men who treated them with
respect, asked for forgiveness and gave them a farewell present. A day after
the women flew home to Italy, politicians disagreed today about whether a
ransom had been paid.
- The two Italian aid workers released by kidnappers in Iraq said on September
30, 2004, that they hope to return to the country despite their three-week
ordeal. As their overjoyed nation shrugged off reports that a ransom was paid
to free them, Simona Pari and Simona Torretta, both 29, said they were taught
about Islam and not harmed. After a heroes' welcome in Italy late on Tuesday,
the two aid workers tried to put the kidnap behind them. The Italians were
blindfolded throughout the ordeal and never saw their captors.
- Simona Torretta, an Italian aid worker held hostage last month in Iraq,
said guerrillas there were right to fight US-led forces and their Iraqi "puppet
government." Simona Torretta also called on Rome to withdraw the troops
it sent to Iraq to support its US ally. Describing the administration of Iraqi
Prime Minister Iyad Allawi as "a puppet government in the hands of the
Americans," Torretta said elections planned for January would have no
legitimacy: "During my days in detention ... I came to the conclusion
it will take decades to put Iraq back on its feet." Torretta, who lived
in Iraq before, during and after the US-led invasion, said she wanted to return
despite her ordeal, but would not do so as long as US troops were there: "I've
got to wait until the end of the US occupation," she said. She said she
did know whether Italy bought her freedom from the kidnappers: "If a
ransom was paid then I am very sorry. But I know nothing about it ... I believe
that the kidnappers were a very political, religious group and that in the
end they were convinced that we were not enemies."
6.2.16 Two Indonesian television journalists
- Two Indonesian television journalists were missing in Iraq while driving
on the dangerous road from Amman to Baghdad on February 18, 2005. They work
for an Indonesian television station. They were coming to Baghdad by road
and disappeared in the region of Ramadi.
- Indonesia asked the release of two journalists being held hostage in Iraq
on February 19, 2005, with the president making a public appeal for their
safe return and dispatching his top crisis negotiator to the Middle East.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said the two had no political agenda, while
the mother of one of the hostages appealed to her fellow Muslims to help secure
her daughter's safe release.
- The Indonesian government says two Indonesian journalists kidnapped nearly
a week ago -26-year-old Meutya Viafa Hafid and 38-year-old Budiyanto- have
been released on February 21, 2005.
- Indonesians are overjoyed that two of their journalists taken hostages in
Iraq have been released unharmed and without any conditions on February 21,
2005. The people have praised the Indonesian Government for reacting. Religious
leaders including terror suspect Abu Bakar Bashir also played a part in the
freeing of the Indonesian journalists who went to Iraq to cover the religious
festival of Ashura when an armed group calling itself Jaish Al-Mujahidin or
Army of Islamic Warriors abducted them last week. The two said they were not
abused because they were Muslims.
6.2.17 Four Peace Activists
- Four peace activists from the Christian Peacemaker Teams -American Tom Fox,
Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden and Briton Norman Kember--
were kidnapped during the weekend we were told on Monday November 27, 2005.
- It was confirmed on Nonember 29, 2005,that four western peace activists
have been kidnapped in Iraq. The group "Sword of Righteousness Brigade"
accuses them to be spies. Two are Canadians, one British and one American
all members of the Chicago based aid group Christian Peacemaker Teams.
- An influential Sunni clerical group, The Association of Muslim Scholars,
asked for their release on November 30, 2005.
- on December 2, 2005, the television al-Jazeera network said that the kidnappers
could kill the four Christian Peace activists if all prisoners held by the
Americans and the Iraqis are not freed by December 8, 2005.
- On December 6, 2005, President Bush said that the US will do all it can
to liberate US hostages but it will not pay any ransom.
- On Wednesday December 7, 2005, the kidnappers extended their deadline for
the release of all prisoners in American and Iraqi prisons until Saturday.
They said again that they will kill the hostages if their requests are not
met by then.
- Another group, the Swords of Righteousness, said they would kill four peace
activists if all prisoners in American and Iraq hands were not released by
Saturday December 10.
- On December 9, 2005, relatives of UK Norman Kember are praying for the release
of all four activists as a deadline set by their captors to kill them approaches.
A group calling itself Swords of Truth says the men, abducted in Baghdad on
26 November, will be killed on Saturday if all prisoners in Iraq are not freed.
They had travelled to Iraq as a "gesture of solidarity" with Canada-based
international peace group Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT). The group denies
the men are spies.
- A deadline set for the killing of four Western peace workers taken hostage
in Iraq passed without news Saturday December 10, 2005 after kidnappers put
to death an Egyptian working for the US military there. The dead Egyptian,
Ibrahim al-Sayyid al-Hilali, worked as a translator in Saddam's home town
of Tikrit before he was taken hostage this week. His body was found near a
village north of Tikrit with his identity papers in his pocket. He was the
eighth foreigner abducted in Iraq since late November. One other, a US security
contractor, has been killed, according to the Islamist group, which seized
him.
- On January 28, 2006, kidnappers holding four Christian peace activists in
Iraq gave the US and the Iraqi authorities a last chance to release all the
detainees in Iraq. If it is refused the four hostages will be killed.
- A videotape of British hostage Norman Kember and two other Canadian peace
activists has been broadcast on Arab satellite television station al-Jazeera
on March 7, 2006. Their American colleague was not shown. The 74-year-old,
from northwest London, was seized in Baghdad with two Canadians and an American
in November.
- The body of American Tom Fox, who was among four Christian peace activists
kidnapped last year, was found near a west Baghdad railway line on March 11,
2006, with gunshot wounds to his head and chest. A US military official in
Baghdad confirmed that Fox's remains were picked up by American forces on
Thursday evening, although they were not immediately identified. Fox was found
with his hands tied and gun shots to his head and chest. There were also cuts
on his body and bruises on his head, al-Mohammedawi said. There was no immediate
word on the whereabouts of Fox's fellow hostages: Canadians James Loney, 41,
and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32; and Briton Norman Kember, 74. They were last
seen in a video dated February 28 that was broadcast Tuesday on Arab television.
Fox did not appear in the brief footage.
- Briton Norman Kember and two Canadian fellow peace activists, James Loney
and Harmeet Singh Sooden, held hostage in Iraq for almost four months have
been freed by multinational forces on March 23, 2006. The men's US colleague,
Tom Fox, was found dead in Baghdad two weeks ago. The three men are believed
to have been rescued following a weeks-long operation led by British troops
and involving US and Canadian Special Forces. Officials have revealed few
details of the operation, but it is known that none of the captors was present,
no shots were fired and no one was injured. They were freed after a multinational
military raid acting on information provided by a detainee. The rescue was
completed without any shots being fired and with no kidnappers present, suggesting
the operation was carefully planned and carried out. The crucial bit of intelligence
that enabled the rescue came only after US forces captured two men on Wednesday
night. One of the suspects had the information that led officials to the Baghdad
house where the hostages were four months into their ordeal.
- Freed British hostage Norman Kember is returning home this Saturday March
25, 2006, to a row over whether he thanked the soldiers who saved him. Head
of the British Army, General Sir Mike Jackson, said he was "saddened"
there did not seem to be any gratitude. Christian Peacemaker Teams, the group
all three men were campaigning for, insisted it had thanked the soldiers.
And Pat Kember, the campaigner's wife, said: "I am overjoyed that Norman
is free to come home and I am very grateful for all those who have helped
secure his release."
- On March 26, 2006, Freed hostage Norman Kember has thanked the soldiers
who rescued him from kidnappers in Iraq. But the peace campaigner - criticised
earlier for apparently failing to thank the rescuers - restated his opposition
to foreign troops in the country. He also said he needed to reflect on whether
he was "foolhardy or rational" to have gone to Iraq last year.
- Friends of former Iraq hostage Norman Kember have praised him for giving
an interview with the BBC on April 14, 2006, but others have said it was too
early for him to speak. He admitted he considered taking his own life during
his 117-day ordeal.
- Three peace campaigners who were taken hostage say they "unconditionally" forgive their Iraqi captors on December 8, 2006. Briton Norman Kember and Canadians James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden said they opposed the death penalty for the hostage-takers.
6.2.18 Jill Carroll
- Gunmen kidnapped Jill Carroll, an American woman journalist, on January
7, 2006, and killed her Iraqi translator in western Baghdad. Carroll is a
freelance journalist working mainly for the US Christian Science Monitor but
also for some Italian newspapers.
- On January 17, 2006, the American journalist Jill Carroll was shown in a
silent videotape on Al Jazeera television. Her kidnappers said that she would
be killed if all the women kept in jail in Iraq by the Americans were not
released within 72 hours.
- On January 20, 2006, there was still no news about the American journalist
Jill Carroll. The ultimatum gave until last night for the USA to release the
8 Iraqi women kept prisoners in Iraq in exchange for her life. Washington
does not want to give up anything to the insurgents.
- On January 21, 2006, there was no news about the American journalist. The
deadline for the release of all the 9 Iraqi women held in prison passed but
we do not know if Jill Carroll is still alive or not.
- On January 30, 2006, US journalist Jill Carroll appeared weeping and veiled
on a videotape diffused by al Jazeera television. Her voice was no heard but
the television said that she pleaded for the release of all the women held
in prison in Iraq. Five Iraqi women were released a few days ago but six other
are still in jail. If the Iraqis and the US do not release these six prisoners
Ms Carroll could be killed by her kidnappers.
- Jill Carroll, a US reporter who works for the Boston-based Christian Science
Monitor held hostage in Iraq has been freed. Unknown gunmen in west Baghdad
abducted her on 7 January. She told Iraqi TV she had been treated well and
said she was looking forward to being reunited with her family. Her captors,
who called themselves the Revenge Brigades, had demanded the release of all
women detainees in Iraq. They had threatened to execute her if their demands
were not met by a 26 February deadline. She appeared in three videotaped statements
during her period in captivity, pleading for the US and Iraqi authorities
to meet the kidnappers' demands.
- Far away from Iraq, Jill Carroll strongly disavowed statements she had made
during captivity in Iraq and shortly after her release, saying Saturday April
1, 2006, she had been repeatedly threatened. In a video, recorded before she
was freed and posted by her captors on an Islamist Web site, Carroll spoke
out against the US military presence. But in a statement Saturday, she said
the recording was made under threat. Her editor has said three men were pointing
guns at her at the time.
During her last night in captivity, her captors forced her to participate
in a propaganda video. They told me she would be released if she cooperated.
She was living in a threatening environment, under their control, and wanted
to go home alive. So she agreed.
- Jill Carroll, the American journalist who spent three months as a hostage
in Iraq, returned to the US on April 3, 2006, in a homecoming clouded by charges
from conservative bloggers that she had fallen under the influence of her
kidnappers. "I finally feel like I am alive again. I feel so good,"
Ms Carroll said. "To be able to step outside anytime, to feel the sun
directly on your face -to see the whole sky. These are luxuries that we just
don't appreciate every day."
-US forces in Iraq have made four arrests on August 9, 2006, in connection with the kidnapping of American reporter Jill Carroll, who was held in captivity for nearly three months.
6.2.19 Susanne Osthoff
- One German woman archaeologist, Susanne Osthoff, and her Iraqi driver were
also kidnapped on November 29, 2005.
- An influential Sunni clerical group, The Association of Muslim Scholars,
asked on December 6, 2005, for the release of the German woman archaeologist,
Susanne Osthoff.
- Susanne Osthoff, the German archaeologist who was kidnapped along with her
driver November 25 in northern Iraq, has been freed on December 18, 2005.
Osthoff's abductors said they would release her driver. He gave no details
of how she was freed.
- On December 26, 2005, the German former hostage, Mrs Susanne Osthoff, said
that she was treated well by her kidnappers. The aid worker and archaeologist
revealed that her kidnappers asked that schools, hospitals and other humanitarian
projects be built in Sunni Arab areas. She was kidnapped with her Iraqi driver
on November 25 and released on December 18. She wants to go back to Iraq although
the German government disagrees.
- On February 17, 2006, we were told that former hostage Susanne Osthoff had
returned to Iraq against Germany's advice two months after the government
had helped win her release, and urged the archaeologist to get out of Iraq.
Part of a ransom alleged to have been paid by the German government to win
Osthoff's freedom was found on her after her release. But German newspapers
later reported that Osthoff was not suspected by the government of cooperating
with her kidnappers, and rather had demanded and been given back part of the
$2,668 she had been carrying when the gunmen first captured her.
- Susanne Osthoff, a German archaeologist, was freed in December after being
held hostage in Iraq for three weeks. German media have quoted unidentified
diplomats on March 9, 2006, as saying Berlin paid the kidnappers $5 million
for her release.