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Kidnapped Bridge to Baghdad Workers Released in Iraq
Public Service and Voting Rights in Arizona: A Debate on
Prop 200 and Immigration
SlamBush: Hip Hop Artists Take on the President in Mock Debate
Free: Kidnapped Bridge to Baghdad Workers Released
in Iraq
Four humanitarian workers - two Italians and two Iraqis
- were freed yesterday after being kidnapped in Iraq three
weeks ago. Simona Torretta, Simona Pari, Raad Ali Abdul Azziz
and Mahnouz Bassam all worked with A Bridge to Baghdad, a
humanitarian group that opposed much of U.S. foreign policy
in Iraq including the sanctions, invasion and occupation.
Four humanitarian workers - two Italians and two Iraqis -
of the organization "A Bridge to Baghdad" were freed
yesterday after being held hostage in Iraq for three weeks.
The women, Simona Torretta and Simona Pari both 29 years
old, were kidnapped from their Baghdad office in broad daylight,
along with Iraqi aid workers Raad Ali Abdul Azziz and Mahnouz
Bassam.
The two Italians received a rapturous welcome as they arrived
at Rome's military airport on last night. Looking overjoyed,
they stepped off the plane dressed in traditional Iraqi clothes
into the arms of waiting friends and relatives. Italian Prime
Minister Silvio Berlusconi was at the airport to welcome them.
Simona Torretta told Italian news agencies "We have
been treated with a lot of respect." Toretta and Pari
have worked in Iraq for years with A Bridge to Baghdad, a
humanitarian group that opposed much of U.S. foreign policy
in Iraq including the sanctions, invasion and occupation.
Torretta said the kidnappers "Understood our work and
from that moment on the situation improved."
The BBC reports Torretta and Pari said the kidnappers had
possessed no list or pictures of the aid workers when they
stormed their Baghdad office on September 7th. Instead, they
asked everyone their name before taking four of them away.
The women told Italian officials they had been treated well
but kept blindfolded for most of the time and had never seen
their captors' faces. They were kept together and in the same
place all the time, with the exception of a quick move the
day after the abduction. In the beginning, their two Iraqi
colleagues were also with them, but they were taken away after
a few days. They said their jailers spoke English.
A Kuwaiti paper reported that the Italian government paid
a $1 million ransom for their release. Berlusconi avoided
the topic when asked about the claim by reporters.
Describing their capture, Simona Torretta said "There
were times when we feared we'd be killed. But at other times
we laughed together." She also described how the captors
came to apologize to the women as they were about to release
them and even gave them a box of sweets for the journey home.
In footage captured by Al-Jazeera, the two Italians were
received by the Red Cross outside a Baghdad neighborhood.
They wore full black veils revealing only their eyes. They
lifted their veils and Simona Torretta repeated, "Thank
you," in Arabic.
Upon her return to Italy Simona Torretta said she planned
to return to Baghdad. She said "I would do it all over
again with all the consequences that carries even though I'm
sorry for all the suffering my mother went through and didn't
deserve."
- Jeff Guntzel, a staff reporter for the National
Catholic Reporter. He has been to Iraq 9 times since
1998. For years, he was a co-coordinator of Voices in the
Wilderness. He has known Simona Torretta for 5 years.
Public Service and Voting Rights in Arizona: A Debate
on Prop 200 and Immigration
We look at a controversial ballot initiative in Arizona
- Prop 200 - that would require all residents of the state
to prove they are citizens to receive any public services
and to vote. We host a debate with a local Latino community
leader and one of the initiatives chief proponents.
Today we are broadcasting from Phoenix, Arizona where immigration
and homeland security issues have been the subject of debate
this election year. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge visited
Phoenix yesterday to promote a public-private sector partnership,
he said, to help expedite trade at the Mexican border. Ridge's
visit sparked an exchange between the Bush and Kerry camps
in Arizona.
The Kerry campaign and Arizona Democrats criticized Bush
and argued the White House has not done enough to deal with
the needs of border communities. The Bush campaign and Arizona
Republicans countered that Kerry is less in tune with border
and homeland security needs in the Southwest.
In addition to the high stakes of the presidential and national
elections this year, Arizona voters will also decide on a
measure called the "Taxpayer and Citizen's Protection
Act," also known as Proposition 200.
If passed, the measure would force all Arizonans to present
their birth certificate or passports to receive public services
and to vote. It would also require public employees to report
anyone who cannot present these documents to federal immigration
authorities.
Today we host a debate on Proposition 200 and immigration:
- Alfredo Gutierrez, leader of the Latino community in
Arizona. He is the host on one of the most listened to radio
shows in the state, "Aqui Estamos con Alfredo Gutierrez."
His show airs on Radio
Campesina, a non-profit network owned by the United
Farm Workers of America. He is a former State Senator
and sought the Democratic nomination for governor in 2002.
- Kathy McKee, founder and Chairwoman of Protect
Arizona Now, the group sponsoring Proposition 200.
SlamBush: Hip Hop Artists Take on the President in
Mock Debate
A Day before John Kerry and George W Bush square off in
Thursday's debate in Miami, fifteen rappers from across the
country will be competing in a mock debate against President
Bush. The event is called SlamBush and is aimed at getting
the Hip Hop generation to vote in the November election. We
speak with Wordsworth, a hip hop artist and one of the event's
organizers.
Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry and President
George W Bush are in the midst of their final preparations
ahead of Thursday's debate in Miami. Though, with the rules
agreed to for the debate, it is turning out to be more like
a bipartisan press conference. Tonight in Miami, President
Bush will be taking place in another debate in Miami.
Well, not exactly. Fifteen rappers from across the country
will be competing in a mock debate against President Bush.
The event is called SlamBush and is aimed at getting the Hip
Hop generation to vote in the November election. Regional
competitions were held in dozens of cities and on the internet.
Tonight, the 15 winners will duke it out at a concert of the
Grammy-Award winning hip hop group The Roots. In a moment,
we are going to be joined on the line from Miami by Brooklyn
rapper, Wordsworth-he is one of the organizers of SlamBush
and will be a judge at tonight's contest. But first, here
is Wordsworth's own lyrical debate with President Bush.
- Wordsworth, hip hop artist from Brooklyn, New York. He
is the co-creator of MTV's Lyricist Lounge Show. He is one
of the organizers of the Slam
Bush competition which takes place tonight in Miami.
Fifteen rappers will be mock debating President Bush.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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