U.S., British Troops Rescue Iraq Hostages
Bassem Mroue
AP
ABC News
_______
Baghdad (Iraq);U.S. and British forces stormed a house and freed three Christian peace activists Thursday without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage ordeal that saw an American in the group killed and dumped along a railroad track.
The U.S. ambassador and the top American military spokesman held out hope the operation on the outskirts of Baghdad could lead to a break in the captivity of American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor who was abducted Jan. 7.
The military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, said the 8 a.m. rescue of the Briton and two Canadians from a "kidnapping cell" was based on information divulged by a man during interrogation only three hours earlier.
The man was captured by U.S. forces on Wednesday night. A senior Iraqi military officer told The Associated Press, however, that the operation had been under way for two days in the Abu Ghraib suburb west of Baghdad, site of the notorious prison.No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into the house, where the captives were discovered with their hands tied, Lynch said.
The freed men were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with an American colleague, Tom Fox, 54. Fox's body was found this month, shot and dumped in western Baghdad.
Mar 23, 2006
Bassem Mroue
AP
ABC News
_______
Baghdad (Iraq);U.S. and British forces stormed a house and freed three Christian peace activists Thursday without firing a shot, ending a four-month hostage ordeal that saw an American in the group killed and dumped along a railroad track.
The U.S. ambassador and the top American military spokesman held out hope the operation on the outskirts of Baghdad could lead to a break in the captivity of American reporter Jill Carroll, a freelance writer for The Christian Science Monitor who was abducted Jan. 7.
The military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, said the 8 a.m. rescue of the Briton and two Canadians from a "kidnapping cell" was based on information divulged by a man during interrogation only three hours earlier.
The man was captured by U.S. forces on Wednesday night. A senior Iraqi military officer told The Associated Press, however, that the operation had been under way for two days in the Abu Ghraib suburb west of Baghdad, site of the notorious prison.No kidnappers were present when the troops broke into the house, where the captives were discovered with their hands tied, Lynch said.
The freed men were Canadians James Loney, 41, and Harmeet Singh Sooden, 32, and Briton Norman Kember, 74. The men members of the Chicago-based Christian Peacemaker Teams were kidnapped Nov. 26 along with an American colleague, Tom Fox, 54. Fox's body was found this month, shot and dumped in western Baghdad.
Mar 23, 2006
