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Muslim Leaders in Iraq Call for Release of Kidnapped U.S.
Journalist Jill Carroll as Deadline Set by Captors Expires
American Hostage: As Jill Carroll Remains Captive in Iraq,
Another Kidnapped U.S. Journalist Talks About the Remarkable
Battle That Won His Release
Muslim Leaders in Iraq Call for Release of Kidnapped
U.S. Journalist Jill Carroll as Deadline Set by Captors Expires
Nearly two weeks have passed since 28-year-old freelance
journalist Jill Carroll was kidnapped on the streets of Baghdad.
Her family has been pleading for her safety while calls for
her release come from throughout the Muslim and Arabic world.
A deadline set by her captors expires today. We speak Ayman
Safadi, editor-in-chief of Jordan's Al Ghad newspaper, who
once worked with Carroll.
Gunmen abducted her on January 7th shortly after she interviewed
a Sunni Arab politician. The gunmen also killed her translator
- who was well known in Baghdad for running a popular record
store that specialized in western music.
Carroll had been working in Iraq since 2003 as a free-lance
unembedded reporter. Last year she wrote: "The sense
that I could do more good in the Middle East than in the U.S.
drove me to move to Jordan six months before the war to learn
as much about the region as possible before the fighting began.
All I ever wanted to be was a foreign correspondent."
The article was titled "Letter from Baghdad: What a Way
to Make a Living."
At the time of her kidnapping, Jill Carroll was working for
the Christian Science Monitor. Until this Tuesday, there had
been no word on Carroll's whereabouts. But then Al Jazeera
aired a videotape of Carroll showing her talking but there
was no audio on the tape. Her captors threatened to execute
her unless the United States freed all Iraqi female prisoners
within 72 hours. On Thursday, her mother, Mary Beth Carroll,
appeared on CNN and made a public plea for her daughter's
release.
- Mary Beth Carroll, mother of Jill Carroll, speaking on
CNN.
Meanwhile, her father, Jim Carroll addressed the kidnappers
on Al Jazeera, the Arabic television network. He said, "She's
just a journalist and an innocent person ... Use her as a
reporter to support your cause."
Meanwhile, calls for Carroll's release have come from throughout
the Muslim and Arabic world. On Wednesday the head of Iraq's
Muslim Scholars Association condemned the kidnapping. The
official -- Muthana Harith al-Dari - said, "She is considered
one of the best journalists who stood against the American
occupation of Iraq and she focused in her articles on telling
the world about the Iraqi people's suffering."
One of Iraq's most influential Sunni Arab leaders - Adnan
Dulaimi - has also called for her release. Carroll was abducted
shortly after interviewing Dulaimi in his office in Baghdad
nearly two weeks ago. Dulaimi told a news conference, "The
kidnapping of this woman is an insult to me and to my work...Release
this journalist who strived for Iraq, defended Iraqis and
condemned the war in Iraq."
The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) has sent
a delegation from Washington to Baghdad to help facilitate
Carroll's release. CAIR's executive director Nihad Awad spoke
to reporters on Thursday.
On Tuesday, Carroll's captors set a 72-hour deadline for
the U.S. military to free women prisoners in Iraq. That deadline
expires today. Iraqi officials said on Thursday the U.S. military
was freeing six women out of eight it was holding but that
this was not linked to Carroll. However, US officials told
Reuters there are no plans to release the women.
We go to Amman, Jordan to speak with a former co-worker of
Jill Carroll:
- Ayman Safadi, he hired Jill Carroll for the Jordan Times
when he was editor-in-chief of the paper. He is now editor-in-chief
of Al Ghad newspaper, also based in Amman. Carroll worked
there for a year and learned to speak Arabic before moving
to Iraq shortly after the U.S. invasion in March 2003.
American Hostage: As Jill Carroll Remains Captive
in Iraq, Another Kidnapped U.S. Journalist Talks About the
Remarkable Battle That Won His Release
As kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll remains in
captivity in Iraq, we hear the story of another American who
was kidnapped in Iraq - Micah Garen. He was held for 10 days
in August 2004 before being released. Garen recently published
a book about his experience with his partner, Marie-Helene
Carleton, who helped secure his release. It's titled "American
Hostage: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped in Iraq and the
Remarkable Battle to Win His Release." The family of
kidnapped American journalist Jill Carroll is pleading for
her safety while calls for her release come from throughout
the Muslim and Arabic world. A deadline set by her captors
expires today.
Today, we turn now to the story of another American journalist
who was kidnapped in Iraq. His name is Micah Garen.
On Aug. 13, 2004 he was seized in the southern Iraqi town
of Nasiriyah where he was making a film on the looting of
Iraq's ancient archeological treasures. He was released 10
days later.
Micah Garen recently published a book about his experience
with his partner, Marie-Helene Carleton. The book is titled
"American Hostage: A Memoir of a Journalist Kidnapped
in Iraq and the Remarkable Battle to Win His Release."
- Micah Garen, journalist kidnapped in Iraq. He is the
author of the new book "American Hostage" which
is a memoir about his experience. He is founder of Four
Corners Media
- Marie-Helene Carleton, girlfriend of Micah Garen. She
led the efforts to free Micah and co-wrote the book "American
Hostage."
- Read Micah's article on torture and extraordinary rendition:
Kidnapping
By Any Other Name
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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