Hostages 'freed' in Afghanistan [a military rescue]

BBC ^ | November 23, 2004 | Unsigned

[aculeus]

Three foreign UN workers who were taken hostage last month in Afghanistan have been released unharmed, officials say.

A senior Afghan official told the BBC one of the kidnappers had been killed and four others seriously wounded in a military operation.

Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Kosovan Shqipe Habibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan were abducted at gunpoint from Kabul on 28 October.

They had been helping to conduct the recent presidential elections.

Published: 2004/11/23 03:57:58 GMT

© BBC MMIV

[MEG33]

Great news!

[konaice]

Anyone want to guess who's soldiers did this rescue?

Any one betting it was the French ;-)

[jocon307]

Good, good! And those stinking coward in Iraq let that poor old man (Allawi's cousin?) go too.

That Polish women was mysteriously rescued also.

Good, good! We've got these dogs on the run. We've got to keep hunting them down.

Thank GOD and the voters, that BUSH is back!

[Rokke]

Standard BBC. The captives were "released unharmed". Of course, we waxed the terrorist thugs that kidnapped them, but I suppose since their rapidly rotting corpses no longer kept the captives captive, they did sort of release them...to our heroes in uniform...who successfully sent more terrorists to hell in the process.

[geekchick]

Released, huh? Sounds more like "pried from their cold, dead fingers."

[luvie]

AMEN AND AMEN!

[saquin]

"released unharmed"?

They were rescued in a military operation.

Why does the BBC insist on making it sound as if the good-hearted terrorists decided to "release" them?

That's not just biased spin, that's out and out lying.

[nothernlights]

I wonder just how many people they think they're fooling,or maybe they need to write this just to convince themselves.

[GretchenM]

Excellent!!!!!!!

Thank You, God, and our troops!

Brings tears to my eyes. Can't imagine what they've been through, wondering what their fate would be.

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

But the DemonRats said that we don't have anything going on in Afghanistan and have forgotten about the place. Gee, could they be wrong? :)

[REDWOOD99]

I wonder if we outsourced the rescue?

[Excuse_My_Bellicosity]

I thought the same thing. "Released" my aunt fanny. The hostages were only released after their captors got their butts shot off.

[RaceBannon]

Freeper Sued (Inside the Beltway)
The Washington Times ^ | November 22, 2004 | John McCaslin
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1285779/posts

FUNDRAISER:LAWSUIT: FREEPER SUED FOR ELECTION 2000 FREEP OF LIEBERMAN EVENT
self ^ | 11/15/04 | RaceBannon


Posted on 11/15/2004 9:17:15 PM EST by RaceBannon


I am being sued for something that happened at the December 2000 Freep of Joe Lieberman.

JimRob has allowed me to hold an internet fundraiser to help defray the costs of my lawyers fees.

I am broke and thousands of dollars in debt, and depending on how much I can collect here, I amnot sure if I can continue or work to sign a mutual release if offered.

Right now, we have ended the discovery phase, and are awaiting the deposition of the man who accused me of assaulting him that day.

That charge is a lie.

The following story below is my short account of what happened that day.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1280785/posts



I am still short about 1K, and that includes today's mail.

Freepers have done a wonderful thing helping me, and I am sad to say I still need maybe one more week at most. Most peole who are going to contribute have already done so, and I thank them completely!

This is a link to PayPal , it works now! LINK is on the top left of the page.
http://mywebpage.netscape.com/JamesBancroft/paypalaccount.html

Original Thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1280785/posts


Jim Bancroft
PO BOX 9002
Forestville Ct 06011-9002

[sdpatriot]

Peter Jennings is going to be very upset if door knobs and door frames were broke in this "release" ..

[KoRn]

Even less after life virgins to be had at this hour!

[mikegi]

Here's a version of the story from the FrontierPost (usual caveats apply):

Forces raid house in search of hostages

KABUL (Agencies): US and Afghan forces have raided a house in Kabul in an operation aimed at freeing three foreign UN workers who were kidnapped last month, military and police sources said.

US helicopters circled over the Karte-Se neighbourhood as Afghan intelligence searched the area and raided the house at around 4:30 am (0000 GMT), police sources said on Monday.

Rockets were fired from US aircraft and at least one hit a civilian house, police and intelligence sources said separately, adding that there were no casualties.

“This morning there was an operation related to releasing the hostages. We don’t know the exact details. We are still working on it. The operation was led by the Afghan government,” US military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Pamela Keeton said.

There was no word on the result of the joint Afghan-US operation in southwest Kabul, which marks a dramatic departure from the previously covert approach to the hostage crisis, which has dragged on since October 28.

UN staffers Annetta Flanigan and Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan, who had been helping oversee Afghanistan (news - web sites)’s first democratic elections, were snatched from heavy lunchtime traffic in downtown Kabul by armed men.

A senior intelligence official confirmed the operation was to search for the hostages, saying it was part of a wide-ranging hunt in Kabul and surrounding areas.
Some people had been taken in for questioning, he said. “It was a search for our lost people. Some people were picked up for questioning,” he said.

“This was part of a routine operation. Each two or three days the coalition, ISAF and NDS are conducting similar operations. Two days ago we had a similar one in Paghman valley,” he added.

The ISAF multinational force is patrolling Kabul and often conducts joint operations with Afghan intelligence officials at the National Directorate of Security.

Head of the US military in Afghanistan General David Barno told reporters that the US was working with the United Nations (news - web sites) and the Afghan government to do everything possible to ensure that the hostages are released safely but gave no further details on the operation.

“This is a heinous crime that cannot be permitted in Afghanistan. We are working very closely with the Afghan law enforcement and our international partners here in Kabul to bring to the perpetrators of this crime to justice and ensure the hostages are released safely,” he said.

[Mo1]

Three foreign UN workers who were taken hostage last month in Afghanistan have been released unharmed, officials say.

A senior Afghan official told the BBC one of the kidnappers had been killed and four others seriously wounded in a military operation

Ummmm .. these folks were not released ..

THEY WERE RESCUED BY THE GOOD GUYS!

[BJClinton]

Update from Reuters via Yahoo!

Three U.N. Hostages Freed in Afghanistan

11 minutes ago

Top Stories - Reuters

By David Brunnstrom and Sayed Salahuddin

KABUL (Reuters) - Three foreign U.N. workers held hostage in Afghanistan (news - web sites) were freed unharmed Tuesday, almost four weeks after they were abducted at gunpoint on the streets of the capital Kabul, the United Nations (news - web sites) said.

Reuters Photo

"Yes they have been released," said U.N. spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva. "They are in Kabul and they are being taken care of, having medical checkups and talking to our people."

Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, Kosovan Shqipe Hebibi and Filipino diplomat Angelito Nayan were abducted in Kabul on Oct. 28 after helping run a presidential election won by U.S.-backed incumbent Hamid Karzai.

Interior Ministry spokesman Lutfullah Mashal said he would provide details of the freeing of the hostages at a news conference later Tuesday.

A spokesman for Kabul's NATO (news - web sites)-led peacekeeping force said the three were currently at one of its bases in Kabul and had undergone medical checkups.

"They have been positively identified and all three appear to be healthy," Squadron Leader David Bennett said, adding that he understood the hostages were freed at about at 7 a.m.

Habib Noorzad, a member of the Taliban splinter faction that had claimed to be holding the hostages, said an understanding reached with intermediaries was that 24 Taliban prisoners would be freed after the release of the hostages and another two traced. He denied that his group had demanded any ransom.

"We had not done this for the sake of money," he said. "This issue would have been solved long before had we done it for the sake of money."

The group had threatened to kill the hostages if their demand for the release of Taliban prisoners was not met.

DENIAL ON RANSOM

A government official, who did not want to be named, denied any deal had been done, but the government has said in the past that it was considering offering a ransom.

Monday, U.S.-led troops searching for the hostages blasted their way into several compounds in Kabul and detained 12 people, but it was unclear if this operation had helped rescue the U.N. workers.

In the Philippines, friends and relatives of the Filipino diplomat shouted with joy in his hometown south of Manila.

"Praise God. Thank God he is free," Nicole Daniel, president of the Las Pinas neighborhood association, said by phone. "We are so emotional. Everybody's crying here."

Silvestre Afable, the presidential communications director in Manila, added: "There was no ransom paid and also, as far as I know, there was no prisoner exchange. All three of the hostages are safe and well."

Kosovan businessman Behgjet Pacolli, who has spent weeks in Kabul trying to expedite the release of Hebibi, a family friend, expressed delight. "I am very, very happy," he said, adding that he expected the trio to leave Afghanistan later on Tuesday.

There has been confusion over who had held the trio since the government said last week it did not believe they were with the Jaish-e Muslimeen faction and were probably with a criminal gang in Kabul or its vicinity.

The kidnappings had raised fears in the foreign community that militants had begun copying tactics of insurgents in Iraq (news - web sites).

However, the hostage takers repeatedly extended deadlines and also allowed the U.N. workers to make phone calls home, in which they said they were being well treated.

The three workers were snatched from their U.N. vehicle from a busy street a few hundred meters (yards) from their office in Kabul.

Diplomats and security sources have speculated that Jaish may have paid another group to carry out the abduction and have been able to give instructions to those who were holding them.

They said the kidnapping itself could have been the work of militiamen loyal to a rival of Karzai, disgruntled by the outcome of the Oct. 9 election, who tried to profit from the abductions.

[the_Watchman]

Hostages released in Afghanistan

This is the actual title. Please use the actual title even when it is inappropriate. First, it prevents duplicate posts. If everyone makes up their own titles, then we will have endless duplicates. Second, part of the information posted is the bias of the MSM. Please let us come to our own conclusions.

I apologize in advance if the BBC has changed the title on you, which is the only reason that your title should not match the original source.