Posted on 04/11/2004 12:00:39 PM PDT by areafiftyone
DUBAI (Reuters) - Eight foreign men described as truck drivers who were held hostage in Iraq (news - web sites) have been released, a masked man said on a videotape aired by an Arabic television station on Sunday.
"We have released them in response to a call from the Muslim Clerics Association...after we were sure that they will not deal with the occupation forces again," the man said in the tape on Qatar-based Al Jazeera, which showed the hostages.
They were three from Pakistan, two Turks, an Indian, a Nepali and one from the Philippines. Looking frightened, the men read out their names, nationalities and ages to the camera.
"We had arrested eight truck drivers who supply the forces of the enemy," the masked man said.
Coalition Provisional Authority officials in Iraq said they had no immediate information on the hostages release.
Earlier on Sunday, British contractor Gary Teeley, seized by suspected militants in the southern Iraqi city of Nassiriya last week, was handed over to U.S.-led forces, officials said.
Since last Thursday, groups in Iraq have claimed they have taken dozens of people hostage, including three Japanese civilians and an American, believed to be a contractor.
An Iraqi group told Al Arabiya television on Saturday it was holding 30 foreign hostages and threatened to behead them unless U.S. forces lifted a blockade of Falluja. It offered no proof.
Japan's government was told earlier that the three Japanese hostages were safe but were still being held by militants who abducted them last week, Kyodo news agency reported.
Al Jazeera said on Sunday militants holding the Japanese would begin killing them unless their demands -- including the withdrawal of Japanese troops from Iraq -- were met within 24 hours.
Iraq has seen an escalation in fighting following the mutilation of four U.S. contractors killed after an ambush in Falluja in late March.
Rock's says he is going to smack your candy *** for not knowing who he is......:-)
Catching hostages and letting them go. Insurgents then cease fires. Governor council people quitting, but not really.
So what country is right next door to Iraq?
Hmmmm, I'm thinking Iran.
Which populace is very unhappy with their government. Which populace is ready and willing to overthrow the mullahs. Which populace loves the United States of America.
So what's to keep all of this Iraq stuff from being one great big show? Arabs, and I know this is politically incorrect but I was almost engaged to one once and they're really not so bad. But they lie like bejeesus and they love drama.
If the BAD guys can cross the border into Iraq from Iran, why can't the GOOD guys?
Who in the world better to infiltrate the angray masses but other members of angry masses. Like an Iranian could pass for an Iraqi much better than Joe Blow, USMC is what I'm saying here.
So the good guys, I suppose they have to train a bit, learn the local customs, maybe deal with an accent. But in short time it's not beyond the pale that thousands of the good guys have been sent into Kud, Fallujah, whatever place has thuggish little groups of no-nothings, and have them be "indoctrinated" into the cause.
Boom. The US of A has a happening little army of spies all over the place.
Why didn't the CPA deal with Fallujah et al earlier? As the Dems go on and spin ad nauseum but maybe it was part of the plan. Which is part of the problem with running for president and being the president as you can't defend yourself. But the plan to infiltrate Fallujah, etc with the GOOD guys took time to implement.
But hey, so far this is just my speculation but it's as close as I can come to with an explanation. Which speculation does allow that there are problem areas in the new Iraq. Soldiers and civilians ARE getting killed.
And that governing council resignation joke this week. I swear to Allah this is all part of some grand drama. Maybe to make the Iranian mullahs think that the BAD infiltrators are doing their job. But absolutely NO ONE resigned from the Iraq Governing council last week. Am I the only one to notice this?
Naturally the GOOD infiltrators aren't going to kill hostages then who knows what happens. Maybe they finally reveal their identity. Maybe they phone in hostage locations to the CPA.
The "cease fire" could be part of the plan to allow the GOOD infiltrators time to realign, or maybe carry through a specific attack learned during the insurgent uprising.
The Iraqi insurgents might not find their new comrades from Iran so odd. I keep hearing that Iran is behind a lot of this so even if there are no GOOD guy infiltrators there's been some assimilation of BAD guys.
Which is why the government is downplaying this and adamantly denying a need for additional troops.
You know there are members of the Dem party that know this, like my buddy Biden on the Intelligence committee. But they'll go on TV and lie, lie, lie.
Just some thoughts.
I must have missed their declaration of war and the name of the figurehead who declared it.
Can anyone enlighten me?
I don't think that Prince Abdullah is part of any Iraq insurgency but I agree the others in your above mentioned quartet would certainly benefit.
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