August 15, 2005

Terrorists Rescue Hostages from Other Terrorists

Terrorists from the Mahdi Army loyal to radical Shia leader Moqtada al-Sadr have freed four hostages in Iraq from Sunni terrorists loyal to al Qaeda. One of the freed hostages was an AP photographer. BBC:

Followers of radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr say they have rescued four hostages from their kidnappers hours before they were to be killed.

Members of Mr Sadr's Mehdi Army freed the four Arab hostages from "terrorist groups" holding them in Baghdad, an aide to the cleric said....

"Members of the Mehdi Army have freed some Arab and Iraqi hostages, kidnapped by terrorist groups who were planning to kill them in the coming hours," he was quoted as saying.

The freed men identified themselves to an Associated Press photographer as Syrian Hisham Salem, Lebanese Mustafa Abdul-Rassoul Hussein, dual Syrian-Lebanese citizen Atta Ibrahim and Iraqi Kurd Haji Alawi.

A spokesman for Mr Sadr, Amer Husseini, was quoted by AP as saying the men were freed on Thursday night during a raid on an apartment in the northern district of Shaab.

He did not say what happened to the kidnappers or why the men had been seized in the first place.

While I hope for the best in Iraq, I fear for the worst.

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D. at 10:38 AM | |