 |
|
The
two released aid workers Torretta(R) and Pari
|
DOHA,
September 28 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - The hostage
crisis in Iraq saw a breakthrough Tuesday, September 28, as the two
Italian female hostages in Iraq have been released, hours after three
others, including an Egyptian, were also freed.
“The
two Italian hostages have been released and handed over to the Italian
charge d'affaires in Baghdad,” Al-Jazeera Satellite TV reported.
Aid
workers Simona Toretta and Simona Pari, both aged 29, were handed over
to the Italian charge d'affaires in Baghdad, it added.
The
two
Simonas were seized, along with two Iraqis, September 7 from
the offices of their aid organization "A Bridge to Baghdad"
in the Iraqi capital.
Italian
Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, on his part, confirmed the release
of the two female hostages, saying they were turned over to the
Italian Red Cross.
Berlusconi
described the release of Toretta and Pari as a “moment of joy”,
according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Speaking
over the phone to Al-Jazeera, Simona Pari’s father also confirmed
the good news.
“Yes,
they were released. We were just contacted by the office of Mr.
Berlusconi and it is true,” joyful Pari told Al-Jazeera.
“I
extend my personal regards and appreciation to all Arab and Muslim
voices that have called for their release.”
Earlier
Tuesday, the Union of Italy's Islamic Communities and Organizations
(UICO) and Jordan's Islamic opposition issued a joint statement in the
Jordanian capital calling for the release of the two Italian women
hostages.
Islamic
Action Front (IAF) party chief Hamza Mansur and the UICO's head
Mohamed Nur Dachan urged “the party holding Simona Toretta and
Simona Pari, and the body of Enzo Baldoni, to deal with them in
keeping with noble human values and release them immediately”.
Baldoni,
a journalist, was killed by his abductors in Iraq last month.
Dachan
held talks overnight with Mansur in Amman before heading for Baghdad
to try to secure the release of the two Italian women.
Others
Released
Meanwhile,
Egyptian telecom giant Orascom said Tuesday that one Egyptian employee
and two Iraqis who were among a group of eight kidnapped in Iraq last
week had been freed.
Earlier,
the company said that two Egyptian hostages had been freed Monday.
“We
thought they had released two, but actually it was one,” an Orascom
spokesman told AFP.
He
also confirmed that two Iraqis were freed but did not say when.
Four
Egyptians and two Iraqis were snatched at the Iraqi-Syrian border town
of Al-Qaim last Wednesday and the following day two more Egyptian
Orascom employees were seized in Baghdad.
The
kidnappings have not been claimed by any group but they came amid a
spate of abductions of foreigners since April that have seen nearly
150 foreigners kidnapped.
Read
Also…
