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| Iraq |
| Kidnapped Iraqi Interpreter Freed in Basra |
| 2008-02-14 |
| Basra, Feb 1, (VOI) - A Sadrist official on Wednesday said the abducted Iraqi interpreter working for CBS TV channel was released in Basra. “The Iraqi interpreter working with the British journalist, kidnapped on Sunday, was released and moved to Qasr al-Sultan Hotel in central Basra,” Sheikh Ali al-Sa’aidi, Muqtada al-Sadr’s official in Basra, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI) in a telephone call. The Sadrist official did not set time for the release the British journalist, but said “al-Sadr office struck a deal with the abductors to free him”. Earlier, Harith al-Ethari, Al-Sadr office chief in Basra, told VOI “They reached an agreement to free the kidnapped British journalist Richard Butler and his Iraqi interpreter.” Today, the CBS news foundation appealed to al-Sadr's office to exert more efforts for releasing the journalist and the interpreter. Al-Ethari on Tuesday condemned all forms of assaults on journalists, demanding the release of the British journalist. We demand those who kidnapped the foreign journalist in Basra to listen attentively to the voice of al-Sadr's office and release the foreign journalist," he said, adding "national powers in Iraq are against the occupation forces not against the foreign civilians, particularly journalists." On Monday, police said a British journalist and his interpreter were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen near Qasr al-Sultan Hotel in central Basra on Sunday. The Paris-based media watchdog Reporters without Borders said at least 208 journalists and media assistants have been killed in Iraq since March 2003. |
| Posted by:DepotGuy |
| #1 Doesn't kidnapping journalists work against the terrorists' cause? |
| Posted by: gorb 2008-02-14 02:25 |