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Cypriot hostage ransomed
A Cypriot man kidnapped in Iraq four months ago has been released after payment of a $200,000 U.S. ransom, relatives said Sunday."This was the greatest present for me. I spoke to him and he is fine," said his aunt, Rita Medzadourian. Garabet Jekerjian, 41, who holds both Cypriot and Lebanese citizenship, was kidnapped by gunmen in Baghdad in August. It was unclear when he was released. He was released on the same day as six kidnapped employees of Sudan's embassy in Iraq. His brother, Avo Jekerjian, told The Associated Press that Garabet Jekerjian was released in Baghdad on Saturday afternoon after the family paid a ransom of $200,000 U.S. to the kidnappers. He said the company his brother worked for contributed, but would not say how much. "It was the best present," he said by telephone from London. "Of course I'm happy, he's OK, he's fine. The ransom was paid and he's been released," he said. The brother added that Garabet Jekerjian was going to Lebanon on Monday. He worked for Geto Trading Ltd., a Cyprus-based company supplying food and alcoholic drinks to U.S. forces. Islam prohibits consumption of alcohol. On Sept. 12, an organization calling itself "Propagation of Virtue and Prohibition of Vice Group" posted a video on an Islamic Web site. It showed a man who identified himself as Garabet Jekerjian and a masked captor pointing a gun at his head. Medzadourian said she found out about her nephew's release Saturday and did not have any other details. Saturday's other release came after the Sudanese government closed it's embassy in Baghdad on Friday following a threat by al Qaeda in Iraq to kill the six -- which included the mission's second in command. There are numerous kidnap gangs operating in Iraq, most taking hostages and then releasing them once a ransom is paid. Non-Iraqis are usually sold to other gangs, while Westerners often wind up in the hands of militant groups such as al Qaeda in Iraq, led by Jordanian-born terrorist mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Militants have kidnapped more than 240 foreigners and killed at least 39 of them over the past two years. The Islamic Army in Iraq claimed on Dec. 8 to have killed U.S. electrician Ronald Schulz, and other groups currently are holding a French engineer and four Christian humanitarian workers -- including two Canadians, a Briton and an American. Posted by: Dan Darling 2006-01-01 |
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