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01-19-2006, 08:41 AM
Iraq Asks U.S. to Free Six Iraqi Women
Thursday, January 19, 2006 7:10 AM EST
The Associated Press
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
http://newsimages.adelphia.net/ap_photos//NY12001190133.jpeg
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraq has asked U.S. authorities to release six of the eight Iraqi women in military custody, but not as part of a bid to free a kidnapped American female journalist, a government official said Thursday.
Militants holding 28-year-old Jill Carroll have demanded U.S. authorities release all Iraqi female detainees or else they would kill the freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, who was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad.
New images showing Carroll surrounded by armed and masked hostage-takers were aired Thursday by Al-Jazeera television. The 20 seconds of silent footage also show her talking to the camera. An editor from Al-Jazeera said the footage was from the same tape the station had obtained and aired part of on Tuesday.
The U.S. military has said eight Iraqi women are in military detention. An Iraqi government commission reviewing detainee cases recommended to U.S. authorities on Monday that six of them be released.
An official from the Human Rights Ministry, which sits on the commission along with representatives of the Defense and Justice ministries, said the call to free the women was not made in response to demands from Carroll's kidnappers, who gave authorities until Friday night to free the women.
"There was no outside pressure on the commission" to recommend releasing the women, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal from insurgents. "This recommendation came after we studied the women's files provided by the American military."
U.S. officials refused to comment Wednesday on whether any of the women were set to be released.
Meanwhile, scores of people died in violence across the country Wednesday.
Thirty people were dragged from their cars at crude checkpoints erected on unpaved roads and shot dead execution-style in farming areas in Nibaei, a town near Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, said police Lt. Qahtan al-Hashmawi.
Insurgents also opened fire on a convoy of the mobile telephone company Iraqna, killing six security guards and three drivers in western Baghdad. Two engineers, believed to be Kenyans, were missing and feared kidnapped.
Two American civilians were killed in a roadside bombing in the southern city of Basra. They worked for the Texas-based security company DynCorp and were training Iraqi police. A third American was seriously wounded in the attack, the U.S. Embassy said.
The increased violence came as authorities prepare to announce the results this week of the Dec. 15 election. U.S. and Iraqi officials expect more attacks as religious and ethnic groups jockey for power in the new government.
Carroll was seen for the first time since her abduction in the footage aired by Al-Jazeera on Tuesday. The report said the 20-second video included a threat to kill Carroll in 72 hours unless U.S. authorities release all women detainees in Iraq.
A still photograph of Carroll from the videotape on Al-Jazeera's Web site carried a logo reading "The Revenge Brigade," a group that was not known from previous claims of responsibility of violence in Iraq.
Insurgents in Iraq, mainly Sunni Arab militants, have kidnapped more than 240 foreigners and killed at least 39 of them. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, more Iraqis have been abducted either by insurgents or gangs seeking ransoms.
An official from a prominent Sunni political organization called for Carroll's release and denounced all kidnappings.
"We condemn the abductions of innocent civilians and journalists and call for the immediate release of the American reporter and all innocent people who have nothing to do with the (U.S.-led) occupation," said Harith al-Obeidi of the Conference for Iraq's People.
French journalist and former hostage Florence Aubenas, who was released in June after being held hostage for 157 days, also called on Carroll's hostage-takers to release her.
"She came to this country to do her job as a journalist and not anything else," Aubenas told Al-Jazeera.
Iraqi Accordance Front head Adnan al-Dulami, a Sunni Arab leader whom Carroll had been attempting to interview before she was taken, called the kidnapping un-Islamic, the Christian Science Monitor reported on its Web site.
On the streets of Baghdad, though, the reaction among ordinary Iraqis was mixed.
"If the purpose behind the abduction was to free Iraqi female prisoners, it was a legitimate right for Iraqis," an Iraqi policemen said while conducting traffic in Baghdad. "But if it was a terrorist act, we denounced that."
President Bush ignored shouted questions Wednesday about what his administration is doing to find Carroll. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said her safe return was a priority for the administration" but refused to say more "because of the sensitivity of the situation."
David Cook, the Washington bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor, told a news conference that Carroll's work has demonstrated she is respectful of Arab culture and people, and the newspaper has shown it treats different cultures and viewpoints fairly.
Link (http://www.adelphia.net/news/read.php?id=12508354&ps=1012&lang=en)
Thursday, January 19, 2006 7:10 AM EST
The Associated Press
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN
http://newsimages.adelphia.net/ap_photos//NY12001190133.jpeg
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) — Iraq has asked U.S. authorities to release six of the eight Iraqi women in military custody, but not as part of a bid to free a kidnapped American female journalist, a government official said Thursday.
Militants holding 28-year-old Jill Carroll have demanded U.S. authorities release all Iraqi female detainees or else they would kill the freelance reporter for the Christian Science Monitor newspaper, who was kidnapped Jan. 7 in Baghdad.
New images showing Carroll surrounded by armed and masked hostage-takers were aired Thursday by Al-Jazeera television. The 20 seconds of silent footage also show her talking to the camera. An editor from Al-Jazeera said the footage was from the same tape the station had obtained and aired part of on Tuesday.
The U.S. military has said eight Iraqi women are in military detention. An Iraqi government commission reviewing detainee cases recommended to U.S. authorities on Monday that six of them be released.
An official from the Human Rights Ministry, which sits on the commission along with representatives of the Defense and Justice ministries, said the call to free the women was not made in response to demands from Carroll's kidnappers, who gave authorities until Friday night to free the women.
"There was no outside pressure on the commission" to recommend releasing the women, said the official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he feared reprisal from insurgents. "This recommendation came after we studied the women's files provided by the American military."
U.S. officials refused to comment Wednesday on whether any of the women were set to be released.
Meanwhile, scores of people died in violence across the country Wednesday.
Thirty people were dragged from their cars at crude checkpoints erected on unpaved roads and shot dead execution-style in farming areas in Nibaei, a town near Dujail, about 50 miles north of Baghdad, said police Lt. Qahtan al-Hashmawi.
Insurgents also opened fire on a convoy of the mobile telephone company Iraqna, killing six security guards and three drivers in western Baghdad. Two engineers, believed to be Kenyans, were missing and feared kidnapped.
Two American civilians were killed in a roadside bombing in the southern city of Basra. They worked for the Texas-based security company DynCorp and were training Iraqi police. A third American was seriously wounded in the attack, the U.S. Embassy said.
The increased violence came as authorities prepare to announce the results this week of the Dec. 15 election. U.S. and Iraqi officials expect more attacks as religious and ethnic groups jockey for power in the new government.
Carroll was seen for the first time since her abduction in the footage aired by Al-Jazeera on Tuesday. The report said the 20-second video included a threat to kill Carroll in 72 hours unless U.S. authorities release all women detainees in Iraq.
A still photograph of Carroll from the videotape on Al-Jazeera's Web site carried a logo reading "The Revenge Brigade," a group that was not known from previous claims of responsibility of violence in Iraq.
Insurgents in Iraq, mainly Sunni Arab militants, have kidnapped more than 240 foreigners and killed at least 39 of them. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, more Iraqis have been abducted either by insurgents or gangs seeking ransoms.
An official from a prominent Sunni political organization called for Carroll's release and denounced all kidnappings.
"We condemn the abductions of innocent civilians and journalists and call for the immediate release of the American reporter and all innocent people who have nothing to do with the (U.S.-led) occupation," said Harith al-Obeidi of the Conference for Iraq's People.
French journalist and former hostage Florence Aubenas, who was released in June after being held hostage for 157 days, also called on Carroll's hostage-takers to release her.
"She came to this country to do her job as a journalist and not anything else," Aubenas told Al-Jazeera.
Iraqi Accordance Front head Adnan al-Dulami, a Sunni Arab leader whom Carroll had been attempting to interview before she was taken, called the kidnapping un-Islamic, the Christian Science Monitor reported on its Web site.
On the streets of Baghdad, though, the reaction among ordinary Iraqis was mixed.
"If the purpose behind the abduction was to free Iraqi female prisoners, it was a legitimate right for Iraqis," an Iraqi policemen said while conducting traffic in Baghdad. "But if it was a terrorist act, we denounced that."
President Bush ignored shouted questions Wednesday about what his administration is doing to find Carroll. White House spokesman Scott McClellan said her safe return was a priority for the administration" but refused to say more "because of the sensitivity of the situation."
David Cook, the Washington bureau chief for the Christian Science Monitor, told a news conference that Carroll's work has demonstrated she is respectful of Arab culture and people, and the newspaper has shown it treats different cultures and viewpoints fairly.
Link (http://www.adelphia.net/news/read.php?id=12508354&ps=1012&lang=en)