Hostage in Iraq might be Charlotte man
11/12/2004 8:15 AM
By: News 14 Carolina
Al-Jazeera television has broadcast a videotape showing what the station says is an American contractor of Lebanese origin held hostage in Iraq.
BAGHDAD, Iraq – A contractor who left Charlotte to work in Iraq is feared to be in the hands of insurgents.
Dean Sadek lived on Hanna Court near Sharon Amity Road in east Charlotte before he moved overseas to work as a contractor for Air and Logistic Support, which is helping to re-open Iraqi airports.
His wife still lives and works in the Charlotte area.
Thursday, Al-Jazeera broadcast a video of a balding, middle-aged man who showed a U.S. passport and an identification card in the name of Dean Sadek. He was shown sitting in front of a green wall.
This image -- supposedly of Charlottean Dean Sadek -- aired on Al-Jazeera television Thursday. Al-Jazeera did not air any audio, but quoted Sadek as saying all businesses should stop cooperating with U.S. authorities.
The kidnapping was claimed in the name of the 1920 Revolution Brigade, a known insurgent group. The name refers to the uprising against the British after World War I.
It's not clear when or where Sadek was kidnapped. Last week, the Iraqi Interior Ministry said a Lebanese-American was seized by armed men from his home in the city's Mansour district, but gave the name as Radim Sadeq.
It would be the second time in the past few months that someone with Charlotte ties was taken hostage in Iraq. Jack Hensley, a University of North Carolina at Charlotte graduate who lived in Tega Cay, was executed by militant groups in August.