Four Jordanian hostages, two Turks freed in Iraq

Four Jordanian hostages have been freed by Iraqi gunmen who raided their captors' hide-out, one of the released captives said, while a video from kidnappers said two Turkish hostages had also been released.

News the hostages were safe provided a moment of respite for Iraq's interim government, struggling to contain a wave of kidnappings of dozens of foreigners by guerrillas opposed to the presence of US-led troops.

One of the Jordanian hostages said he had been released alongside three other Jordanian truck drivers after a group of Iraqis stormed a house in the city of Falluja late on Tuesday and freed them without firing a shot.

"When the brave people of Falluja knew that we were held hostage they raided the house and rescued us last night. We are all safe," one of the hostages, Ahmad Hassan Abu Jafaar, told Reuters in Baghdad by telephone.

"We're expecting to go back to Jordan today."

A group calling itself the Death Squad of Iraqi Resistance said last Thursday it was holding the Jordanians to put pressure on their transport company to stop cooperation with US forces. Jaafar said the kidnappers had wanted money.

The Iraqi rescuers were sent by a council of local elders formed last month to battle crime and kidnapping in Falluja, where the interim government of Prime Minister Iyad Allawi in Baghdad exercises only minimal authority.

Insurgents aiming to disrupt supplies delivered to US forces from neighbouring countries have seized foreign drivers in the past few months, threatening to kill them unless their employers stop operating in Iraq or pay ransoms.

Relatives of the Jordanians, who were seized nine days ago, said they were staying with a local leader in Falluja.

"They are now staying in the home of Haji Ibrahim Mohammad in the town of Falluja. They spent the night in his house after their release last night by their kidnappers," said Mohammad Hassan Abu Jafaar, the brother of freed driver Ahmad Hassan Abu Jafaar.


Al Jazeera television reported that a group linked to Jordanian militant Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - who Washington accuses of al Qaeda links - had released two Turkish drivers because their firm agreed to stop working in Iraq.

"Due to the Turkish firm's decision to stop sending supplies to US forces in Iraq, the Tawhid and Jihad Group has decided to free the two Turkish hostages," said a videotaped statement from the group broadcast on the Arabic satellite channel.

A source at the Turkish embassy in Baghdad said he could not confirm the Turkish drivers had been released, but the sister of hostage Abdurrahman Demir said she had spoken to him.

"He called us. His voice was very tired, but he said he was fine. He is on his way to Turkey," the sister, called Fatma, told Reuters.

On Sunday, two haulage firms said they were prepared to suspend operations in Iraq after the two drivers were seized. The militants had threatened to behead the pair within 48 hours unless their employees stopped working in Iraq.

Fears for the fate of the Turks grew on Monday when Islamist websites showed a videotape of the killing of another Turkish hostage in Iraq by a group linked to Zarqawi, the United States' number one target in Iraq.

Turkish newspapers reported on Wednesday that police suspect at least one Turkish militant sought over last year's suicide truck bomb attacks in Istanbul was involved in the killing of the Turkish hostage.

In the northern city of Mosul, Iraqi police and insurgents exchanged rifle and rocket-propelled grenade fire in the streets, a reminder of the challenge the interim government's nascent security forces face in defeating guerrillas.

"The fighting seems to be going on around a highway bridge and is very fierce. There have been five or six loud explosions," a Reuters correspondent in the city said.

It was not immediately clear if there were any dead or wounded from the clashes in Mosul, which has seen frequent outbreaks of violence in the past year. A US military spokesman said American troops would help police if requested.

Earlier, hospital staff said an Iraqi man and a woman were killed and two people wounded in a roadside bomb blast aimed at a convoy of US armoured vehicles in the city.

- REUTERS


Herald Feature: Iraq