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| Iraq-Jordan |
| Iraq hostages freed in tribal raid |
| 2004-08-04 |
| IN an extraordinary assault, gunmen in the Iraq city of Fallujah stormed a kidnappers' lair and forced the overmatched militants inside to flee, freeing four Jordanian truck drivers held captive, local officials said. The raid, in a city that has long been hostile to the US military and supportive of Saddam Hussein, marked the first time local gunmen had broken foreign hostages out of captivity. They called the kidnappers "terrorists" and outsiders. Farther north, a series of battles between Iraqi authorities and insurgents in the city of Mosul killed 14 civilians and eight insurgents, the US military said. Iraqi authorities clamped a curfew on the area and sealed off bridges into the city to restore order. The fighting was the fiercest in Mosul in months, and local authorities said insurgents appeared to be testing the police. No Iraqi or coalition forces were killed in the violence, the US military said. Some militant groups - which commonly attack US and Iraqi forces with bombings and shootings - have turned to kidnapping in recent weeks, snatching poorly protected truckers driving the dangerous route near Fallujah, a hub of the insurgency 64km west of Baghdad. US Marines had pulled back from Fallujah after besieging the city for three weeks in April, leaving it in the hands of the Fallujah Brigade, made up of local residents and insurgents who fought the Marines and are commanded by officers from Saddam's former army. The four Jordanian truck drivers were seized last week along a highway near Fallujah, Ahmad Abu-Jaafar, one of the freed drivers, said. Sheik Haj Ibrahim Jassam, a tribal leader, said he received word late on Tuesday that the men were being held in a house on the edge of the city. Local leaders gathered together armed residents, who raided the house, freeing the hostages and chasing out the kidnappers, he said. Sheik Jassam called the kidnappers "terrorists, who are not from Fallujah." The Jordanians insisted their captors were not those who had battled the US Marines. "The kidnappers have nothing to do with the resistance," Mr Abu-Jaafar told The Associated Press by telephone. The four men were taken back to Sheik Jassam's house and handed over to Jordanian officials yesterday, Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Ayed said. "They are now in a safe place, which we will not disclose," Mr al-Ayed said in Amman, Jordan. He said the four were in "good health" and would arrive home today. The kidnappers made several demands, he said. "We haven't met any of them." The men, who had been abducted by a group calling itself "Mujahedeen of Iraq, the Group of Death", were blindfolded and moved to a different house every two days during their ordeal, Mohammed Khleifat, a freed hostage, told The Associated Press. "We couldn't eat the food they gave us. The four of us got sick from the food and the water," he said. The hostages heard that a man from the United Arab Emirates had been willing to pay the kidnappers $US500,000 ($709,000) ransom, but the raid put an end to that, Mr Khleifat said. Insurgents have kidnapped scores of foreign hostages to force foreign companies and coalition troops from Iraq. In an effort to save the hostages, several companies have said they would stop their work here, and last month the Philippines withdrew its 51-member troop contingent to secure the freedom of a Filipino truck driver. In a move to show kidnappers that none of the 31 other countries in the coalition would follow suit, the United States issued a statement yesterday vowing not to make concessions to hostage-takers. Many of the other coalition members were expected to issue similar statements in the coming days, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said. "We are united in our resolve to make no concessions to terrorists," read the statement. "We understand that conceding to terrorists will only endanger all members of the multinational force, as well as other countries who are contributing to Iraqi reconstruction and humanitarian assistance," it said. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #3 ..any "valiant" rescues performed by Arabs that result in zero captures or KIA's are more likely to have been negotiated turnovers.. Yeah, one has to wonder what the deal is when "overmatched" kidnappers are not cut down immediately and somehow manage to "flee". |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-08-04 11:08:32 PM |
| #2 Additionally, any "valiant" rescues performed by Arabs that result in zero captures or KIA's are more likely to have been negotiated turnovers - possibly with an exchange of funds. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-04 10:13:22 PM |
| #1 The hostages heard that a man from the United Arab Emirates had been willing to pay the kidnappers $US500,000 ($709,000) ransom, but the raid put an end to that, Mr Khleifat said. I'd do a thorough background check on the guy who offered to pony up the cash. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-08-04 10:11:25 PM |