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Iraq-Jordan
Tribal raid frees Jordanian hostages
2004-08-05
Six hostages in Iraq were free yesterday, four of them after an Iraqi tribal chief in the Fallujah region staged a raid on the house where they were being held. The chief, Ibrahim Jassam, said he learned that four Jordanians were being held in a house at Fallujah's edge and organized about 100 armed men from his tribe to free them Tuesday night. The hostage-takers, who had called themselves "Mujahideen of Iraq, the Group of Death," fled the raid. The Jordanians were abducted eight days ago on a highway near Fallujah. Ahmad Abu-Jaafar, one of the freed men, said, "The kidnappers have nothing to do with the resistance" movement against the U.S. presence in Iraq. Jassam, the tribal leader, called the militants "terrorists, who are not from Fallujah."
"They're from, um, elsewhere. Somewhere. Not here."
Former hostage Mohammed Khleifat described being blindfolded by the kidnappers and moved to a different house every two days. "We couldn't eat the food they gave us. The four of us got sick from the food and the water," he said.
"Raman noodles again? Uggh!"
Still, Jordanian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali al-Ayed said the men are all in "good health." Without elaborating, Al-Ayed said the kidnappers had made several demands. "We haven't met any of them," he said.
The demands or the kidnappers?
Posted by:Steve White

#5  So a hundred guys raid this house and the perps got away? Gee, with a little pat on the po-po, I assume.

They surrounded it Saudi-style.
Posted by: Steve White   2004-08-05 4:11:37 PM  

#4  The hostage-takers, who had called themselves "Mujahideen of Iraq, the Group of Death," fled the raid.

Just a suggestion, pussies, but you might want to work on a new name.
Posted by: tu3031   2004-08-05 2:49:14 PM  

#3  So a hundred guys raid this house and the perps got away? Gee, with a little pat on the po-po, I assume.
Posted by: Mercutio   2004-08-05 2:42:25 PM  

#2  Even better, could this canny sheik have contacted the company and offered to do the job for some generous reward?

At a minimum it's clear the sheik will expect something in return, not necessarily a (monetary) reward.
Posted by: Raj   2004-08-05 12:40:51 PM  

#1  I have a sneaking suspicion about this but it may be good news.

These guys were working for a Jordanian company right? The company, like most in Iraq, probably have loads of money at stake in Iraq, right? So it occurred to me that there is a third option for dealing with the terrorists other than giving in or else having your employees get slaughtered and that is pay someone else to find and free them.

Sounds plausible doesn't it? Isn't this something that the smart company would do? Could it be that some brilliant mofo somewhere has finally stumbled on this idea? Even better, could this canny sheik have contacted the company and offered to do the job for some generous reward?

Even if this didn't actually occur, I say this idea should be actively explored by the companies involved in Iraq. I'm sure there are drawbacks but I'm just as sure they could be dealt with too.
Posted by: peggy   2004-08-05 12:25:39 PM  

00:00