Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit on Tuesday announced the release of Jordanian embassy driver in Baghdad Mahmoud Saaidat, who was held hostage for two months. “The efforts of His Majesty King Abdullah and his daily follow-up on all state agencies to secure the release of Saaidat were successful,” Bakhit was quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, as saying. “I am happy to convey the news of his release to his family and the entire Jordanian people.” Government Spokesperson Nasser Judeh later told reporters that Saaidat “was in a safe place and he was expected to return in a few hours.” Saaidat was snatched in southern Baghdad on December 20 by a group calling itself the Hawks Brigade who threatened four times to kill him, according to Agence France-Presse. The group demanded Jordan cut ties with the Iraqi government and release Sajida Al Rishawi, the female would-be suicide bomber, whose explosive belt failed to detonate in the November 9 attacks that killed 60 people at three Amman hotels.
A videotape aired recently on Al Arabiya TV showed Saaidat as saying that his captors had wrapped around him an explosive belt and had set a four-day deadline to execute him unless their demands were met. Judeh reiterated yesterday that all of the abductors' demands were rejected.