Article

2005-06-23 Iraq-Jordan

Hjertstroem & Wood 'watched other captives die'

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Posted by Spavirt Pheng6042 2005-06-23 00:00|| || Front Page|| [2 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 "...said Mr Hjertstroem, also 63, who had lived in Iraq for 14 years but has now returned to Sweden."

Hmm. 1991. What an interesting time for an oil broker to choose to live in Iraq. Reminds me alot of Van Anraat. (link)

"Swedish officials did not release news about his [Hjertstroem's] capture, which only leaked out after his release. Officials have also refused to detail how he was freed."

Hmmm.

Posted by Rory B. Bellows 2005-06-23 02:09|| 2005-06-23 02:09|| Front Page Top

#2 1991 is wrong - 14 years altogether, not 14 consecutively. The first article (link) on hiim says he was doing business before the sanctions - one of the few brokers who did so. So that's prior to 1990, at least. The article mentions "directly with Saddam Hussein," but that might be tabloid hype or bad machine translation. Also says that Hjertstroem didn't have family in Iraq, and that he left before the 2003 invasion. Wonder if he ever came across Ihsan Barbouti or Abdul Basit.

Anyway, I'd bet he knows a bit about the sanctions shenanigans, if only vaguely. Roger Simon, call your office.

Posted by Rory B. Bellows 2005-06-23 02:37|| 2005-06-23 02:37|| Front Page Top

#3 Mr Hjertstroem described his ordeal as horrific. Several times he thought he was going to die when the kidnappers went to shoot him, then fired into the wall next to his head. "They thought it was very funny," he said.

He also said hostages who cried were targeted for execution. "A lot of people were afraid, screaming and crying all night. Unfortunately for them, they were ones who were usually killed," he said.

The squeaky wheel gets greased. I wonder what Senator Durbin thinks about the detention conditions of hostages?

Posted by Bobby 2005-06-23 10:16|| 2005-06-23 10:16|| Front Page Top

#4 Bobby: The squeaky wheel gets greased.

ROTFLMAO. You ought to get a copyright on this line.

Posted by Zhang Fei">Zhang Fei 2005-06-23 15:19|| http://timurileng.blogspot.com]">[http://timurileng.blogspot.com] 2005-06-23 15:19|| Front Page Top

#5 Sometimes typing too fast is serendipitous.

Posted by Bobby 2005-06-23 15:57|| 2005-06-23 15:57|| Front Page Top

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