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US Contractor Sprung in Iraq
American contractor Roy Hallums, who was taken hostage last November in Iraq, has been released, his ex-wife said Wednesday. "I can confirm he's been released," Susan Hallums, 53, told The Associated Press in a brief telephone interview from her home in Corona. "Considering what he's been through, I understand he's in good condition." She didn't give any details, but she told CNN she had talked to him. "It was just very, very early this morning and he called and said that he was free and I said, `That's just â our prayers were answered,'" she said. "It was just so wonderful to hear his voice and to hear my kids calling me and so happy ...," she said. "He just said he was optimistic that he would be OK, and I said, can he walk, and he said, `I walked a little bit.'" A family Web site was topped with a headline: Roy IS FREE!!!!!! 9/7/05. Hallums, 57, was working for the Saudi Arabian Trading and Construction Co., supplying food to the Iraqi army, when he was kidnapped Nov. 1. He was seized along with two other foreigners after a gunbattle in the upscale Mansour neighborhood. An Iraqi guard and one attacker were killed. A Filipino, a Nepalese and three Iraqis also were abducted but later freed. In a January video released by his kidnappers, Hallums had a shaggy beard and a gun pointed at his head. The family sent fliers to Iraq that, in English and Arabic, offer a $40,000 reward for information leading to his safe release. No word if it was paid. Mrs. Hallums and her husband of 30 years divorced a couple of years ago but remained good friends, she said. They have two daughters. Posted by: Bobby 2005-09-07 |
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