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| Iraq | |
| Four held over kidnap of Guardian journalist | |
| 2005-10-21 | |
| Iraqi police have arrested four men in connection with the kidnapping of the Guardian journalist Rory Carroll in Baghdad. The police are looking for a further four suspects. Carroll, 33, who has been on assignment in Iraq for nine months, was freed on Thursday night after being held for 36 hours. He is due to fly back to his family's home in Dublin tomorrow. The Iraqi police have seldom been proactive in hostage situations. But diplomats praised them for following a trail that started with the head of the family who Carroll interviewed in Sadr City. The trail led to a group of men who visited the home during the interview. Carroll was released unharmed after intensive diplomatic negotiations behind the scenes. The Irish foreign minister, Dermot Ahern, disclosed today that his government had been helped by the British, French and Italian governments. Although Carroll is an Irish citizen, the Irish government, which opposed the war, has no diplomatic presence in Baghdad. Mr Ahern also thanked the Iranian government for its help. He confirmed that no ransom had been paid and said he had no knowledge of any prisoner swaps. Within half an hour of the Guardian being alerted that Carroll was missing, government emergency hostage teams were being set up in Baghdad and in European capitals. The Guardian set up a tight-knit group of its own, and contacts were made with all sources that might help, from governments and security specialists through to clerics. Dermot Gallagher, secretary general of the Irish foreign affairs ministry, said the Irish government had been planning to send a diplomatic mission to Baghdad. "If an intelligence team stumbled on him and if the military option was to be considered - and this was not our preferred option - we would have needed to have been consulted and we would have consulted with the Carroll family," Mr Gallagher said. Carroll does not know whether the group that held him was criminally or politically motivated. But various diplomatic sources blamed one of the factions loosely united behind Moqtada al-Sadr, the Shia cleric who has a large following in Iraq and is backed by his Mahdi Army militia. Carroll was kidnapped in Sadr City, a Shia-dominated Baghdad slum formerly known as Saddam City. The cleric has nominal control of the area.
The Associated Press reported that a group of Sadr City residents had allegedly raided the area where Carroll was being held by criminals and freed him. This is inaccurate. Carroll's freedom was the result of negotiation. His release was carefully coordinated by the interim government. | |
| Posted by:Steve |
| #2 Although Carroll is an Irish citizen, the Irish government, which opposed the war, has no diplomatic presence in Baghdad. Must have used the IRA connection. |
| Posted by: Snineck Snavise1392 2005-10-21 16:04 |
| #1 Kidnapping is an old Iranian thing remember. |
| Posted by: Sock Puppet O´ Doom 2005-10-21 15:26 |