Free Republic

Police located, Sunday, 15-year-old Nofer Ben-Chamou of Lod, in a village of the Arab Triangle, northeast of Tel Aviv. She had been missing for weeks after getting involved with Arab boys. Member of Knesset Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) and members of the Lehava organization, which helps families deal with such situations, were in constant contact with the family during the time Nofer was missing. They joined the family at the police station where Nofer was brought with instructions on how to deal with her rehabilitation. Lehava praised the police for their work and called on authorities to do something about...

BOGOTA -- Three Americans held captive by Colombia's leftist rebels for 5 1/2 years published a memoir Thursday full of wrenching survival stories and unkind words about Ingrid Betancourt, the most famous hostage who shared their jungle prisons. The chronicle of the U.S. military contractors' 1,967 days as rebel captives describes their pain and perseverance, mind-numbing boredom in jungle cages, forced marches in chains, close calls under fire and ultimately, a miraculous rescue. ( Read Rest at Link)

Tran Trong Duyet - a sprightly retiree and amateur ballroom dancer - must rank as one of John McCain's more unlikely supporters.Four decades ago, during the Vietnam war, Mr Duyet was in charge of the notorious Hoa Lo prison - the place where Mr McCain says he was brutally beaten and tortured during five-and-a-half years as an American prisoner of war. "McCain is my friend," said 75-year-old Mr Duyet as he feeds the caged birds he now keeps in his garden in this coastal city. "If I was American, I would vote for him." Informal chatsNavy pilot John McCain was...

UK captive 'felt like a traitor' Faye Turney has reportedly struck a six-figure deal Leading Seaman Faye Turney has told how she "felt like a traitor" when she was forced to write "confession" letters shown on Iranian television. The only woman among the 15-strong Royal Navy crew has also defended her decision to sell her story to ITV1's Trevor Macdonald and the Sun newspaper. Some of the reported six-figure sum for the interview will go to navy families. Relatives of soldiers killed in Iraq have criticised the decision allowing the crew to sell their stories. Lord Heseltine, the former deputy...

Captive speaks of Taleban horror Daniele Mastrogiacomo, 52, thought he would be killed An Italian journalist freed after being kidnapped by the Taleban in Afghanistan says he saw his captors cut off the head of one of two Afghans with him. Daniele Mastrogiacomo, who works for the La Repubblica daily, was seized two weeks ago in southern Helmand province. Mr Mastrogiacomo was said to be in good health in hospital. His driver's body has yet to be handed over, while his translator was also freed on Monday. The men were kept in chains and moved 15 times while in captivity,...

Giant pandas breeding at Wolong Nature Reserve

Riviting interview about women who are trapped in marriages to Moslem men in Israel. The link with go to interview.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27, 2006 – Iraqi soldiers and police are conducting a house-to-house search for American freelance journalist Jill Carroll, who was taken hostage in the Baghdad area Jan. 7, a senior Iraqi military officer said on U.S. television today. "We isolate areas in cooperation with the police and go house to house searching for Jill," Lt. Gen. Nasser Abadi told Fox News Channel. "We've done three areas now, and tomorrow we'll finish one big district." Abadi, the deputy commanding general of Iraqi Joint Forces, expressed hope that his soldiers would soon find the 28-year-old woman who'd been filing Iraq-based...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 5, 2005 – The United States is a law-abiding nation and never has transported captured terrorists to another country to be tortured as part of the interrogation process, the senior U.S. diplomat said today. "Torture is a term that is defined by law. We rely on our law to govern our operations. The United States does not permit, tolerate or condone torture under any circumstances," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., as she prepared to depart on a four-day European trip to Germany, Romania, Ukraine and Belgium. Rice rebutted recent news...

As former hostage Douglas Wood meets Prime Minister John Howard, PAUL KENT travels to Iraq to meet the man who saved the Australian's life ON THE night they brought in 35 more Australian troops to do Australia's fighting, the little man with the eternal light was out in the Iraqi suburbs, weaving whatever it is that makes the legend grow. He is not Australian, yet he senses the place he holds in Australian hearts. He is not a big man, and yet with every new conquest he seems to grow. "Big power," he calls it, and he couldn't be more...

OKLAHOMA CITY - The wife of a deputy prison warden who vanished 10 years ago with an escaped killer told authorities after she was found that he had held her captive the whole time, a federal agent said Tuesday. A tip generated by the TV show "America's Most Wanted" led law enforcement to a mobile home in Campti, Texas, where escaped convict Randolph Dial was arrested Monday, said Salvador Hernandez, special agent in charge of the FBI in Oklahoma. The assistant warden's wife, Bobbi Parker, 42, was found a short time later working at a chicken farm not far from...

The Terri Schindler Schiavo Daily Threads are created month to month as we watch local and national news regarding Terri and her family. Since Terri's supporters are in every time zone, you may see something FIRST. Please share news with us that you don't see here already. Now, why would you want to do that? Terri's Daily Thread for September/October of 2004 was viewed over 15,000 times. Terri's November Daily Thread was viewed over 6,000 times. December's thread is over 3,000 views. More and more good folks are finding out about Terri and that judicial tyranny would take her life,...

I have come to the conclusion that the Democrat Party has to keep the Black voter in a state of oppression in order to secure their votes. As the Republican party enjoys the association of "Freeing the slaves," with it's history, the Liberal Democrats must be exposed for opressing the Blacks through emotional and psychological manipulation.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — U.S. journalist Micah Garen (search), who was kidnapped in Iraq more than a week ago, was released Sunday in the southern city of Nasiriyah. Garen spoke to Al-Jazeera television, confirming his release. Garen was interviewed by telephone by the station moments after an aide to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr (search) said the American had been released. Garen thanked al-Sadr's representatives in Nasiriyah (search) and everyone else who worked to secure his release.

Linda Vester just reporting that Paul Johnson has been killed.

Sunday morning at around 11:15 a wounded man came panting up to a New York National Guard unit near the Iraqi town of Belad, about 30 miles south of Tikrit. The man said he was an American: Thomas Hamill, a contractor kidnapped last month after insurgents ambushed a convoy in which he'd been driving. He said he'd heard the US patrol pass the building in which he was being held, so he'd pried a door open and chased them half a mile up the road. Other than an old gunshot wound to the arm, Mr. Hamill seemed fine, so the...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will not negotiate for the release of an American soldier being held by insurgents in Iraq (news - web sites) but is working to win the freedom of hostages there, top administration officials said on Sunday. U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) said the United States was taking unspecified measures to ensure security amid intensifying violence in Iraq in which at least 99 U.S. soldiers have died since March 31, and some 50 people taken hostage. Though many have been released, two Americans and three Italians are still being held....

Foxnews anchor Julian Phillips interviewed POW Matt Maupins mother along with the mother of another soldier who is currently serving in Iraq. Both were very upbeat, and very positive. Despite the situations that there sons are currently in. Now lets flashback for a second. Earlier in the week, Jesse Jackson offered to intervene in Thomas Hamil's case. Hamil's wife said that she approved and that she hoped Jackson was successful. Phillips apparently did not read his facts correctly. He thought that Maupin's mother was the one that had said she approved of Jesse Jackson's involvement. So he asked a question...

Hundreds of people showed up for a Friday night vigil in support of hostage Matt Maupin on the steps of the Clermont County courthouse in Batavia. The events kicked off at 7 p.m. off with the Pledge of Allegiance led by by Clermont County Commissioner Bob Proud. "I know when we planned this, we planned this with the thought that he's alive. Now we know he's alive and being held hostage. We must keep strong," said Proud following the pledge. Proud stressed the importance of yellow ribbons as a sign of support in the community. He also announced that ClermontYellowRibbon.com...

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi guerrillas paraded a captive U.S. soldier Friday, shortly after President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed to stamp out all violence in Iraq. Arabic television station Al Jazeera broadcast a video tape that showed U.S. Private Keith Matthew Maupin held by masked and heavily armed guerrillas after being captured in an attack on a convoy last week. "A group of mujahideen (holy fighters) has succeeded in taking an American soldier prisoner...and he will be treated in the Islamic tradition of treating prisoners and he is in good health," one guerrilla read from a statement....

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi guerrillas have paraded a captive U.S. soldier after U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair vowed to stamp out all violence in Iraq. Arabic television station Al Jazeera broadcast a video tape that showed U.S. Private Keith Matthew Maupin held by masked and heavily armed guerrillas after being captured in an attack on a convoy last week. "A group of mujahideen (holy fighters) has succeeded in taking an American soldier prisoner...and he will be treated in the Islamic tradition of treating prisoners and he is in good health," one guerrilla read from a...

U.S. military officials have seen video of an American soldier who was taken hostage in Iraq, ABCNEWS has learned. A senior military official told ABCNEWS that the soldier in the video was one of two G.I.s who disappeared on April 9, during the same convoy attack in which American contract worker Thomas Hamill was taken hostage. In the video, which the official expected to be shown on the Arabic television channel Al Jazeera, the soldier is seen talking, the military official said. Al Jazeera denied having the video. The two soldiers who were unaccounted for since April 9 were Sgt....

Shin Bet say Tannenbaum's story does not make senseIsrael would not have agreed to the prisoner swap that freed a hostage had the true circumstances of his capture been known, according to media reports. Elhanan Tannenbaum was the only living captive given to Israel last month in exchange for about 400 Palestinians and 59 dead fighters, mostly of Hezbollah. But Channel One said he was not fully co-operating with interrogators who doubted his story about his capture. Israeli media reported earlier that Mr Tannenbaum failed lie-detector tests. Israeli lawmakers also expressed concerns that Mr Tannenbaum - a businessman and a...

NEWS RELEASEHEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES CENTRAL COMMAND 7115 South Boundary Boulevard MacDill AFB, Fla. 33621-5101 Phone: (813) 827-5894; FAX: (813) 827-2211; DSN 651-5894 December 22, 2003Release Number: 03-12-55 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TASK FORCE “ALL AMERICAN” CONDUCTS OFFENSIVE OPERATIONS AR RAMADI, Iraq – Soldiers from Task Force “All American” continue missions aimed at assisting local Iraqis in the reconstruction effort and stopping violence in the Al Anbar province. During the last 24 hours, we conducted 204 patrols, including 25 joint patrols with the Iraqi Border Guard and Iraqi police. Soldiers also carried out 16 offensive operations. During these operations, there were...

After his last audioaped message was delivered and aired over Al Arabia TV on Sunday November 16, on the occasion of Ramadan, Saddam was seized, possibly with the connivance of his own men, and held in that hole in Anwar for three weeks or more, which would have accounted for his appearance and condition. Meanwhile, his captors bargained for the $25 million dollar prize the Americans promised for information leading to his capture alive or dead.The negoiations were mediated by Jalal Talabani's Kurdish PUK militia.These circumstances would explain the ex-ruler's docility -described by Lt. General Sanchez as 'resignation'-in the face...

Bush Says Iraq's Aziz Skirting the Truth By SCOTT LINDLAW The Associated Press Saturday, May 3, 2003; 2:36 PM CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush expressed unshakable confidence Saturday that banned weapons will be found in Iraq and complained that Tariq Aziz, one of Saddam Hussein's closest deputies, is not cooperating with U.S. forces who have him in custody. Bush said the deputy prime minister, the most visible face of the former Iraqi government other than Saddam's, "still doesn't know how to tell the truth." The president, at a news conference on his ranch with visiting Australian Prime Minister John Howard,...

UMM QASR, Iraq -- Hurling rocks, bottles filled with sand and wooden stakes, detainees at the only permanent U.S. prisoner-of-war camp in Iraq riot almost daily, military officials said Sunday. Anger over slow food lines or disputes among ethnic groups can spark uprisings--especially with ringleaders quick to incite riots inside the prison camp that houses about 6,000 Iraqis under long white open tents, they said. "Pretty much every day there's a riot. It can get real ugly in there for the MPs [military police]," said Maj. Joel Droba of the 13th Psychological Operations battalion, which broadcasts orders for calm over...