Jill Carroll, U.S. Reporter in Iraq, Freed by Captors (Update1)

03/30/2006

March 30 (Bloomberg)—U.S. journalist Jill Carroll has been freed after almost three months in captivity in Iraq, her employer said.

The Boston-based Christian Science Monitor newspaper reported her release on its Web site. Speaking in Berlin, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Carroll’s release had been secured by international efforts.

``This is something that people across the world have worked for and prayed for,’’ Rice said at a news conference.

Carroll, 28, and her Iraqi interpreter, Allan Enwiyah, were seized by gunmen on Jan. 7 near the western Baghdad office of Adnan al-Duleimi, a Sunni Muslim politician whom she planned to interview. Enwiyah, 32, was shot dead and his body was later found nearby. Their driver escaped unharmed.

``I am just happy to be free,’’ Carroll, wearing a traditional headscarf and robe, said in an interview on Baghdad Television, carried by Sky News. She said she was ``well’’ treated and doesn’t know why she was kidnapped.

Concern for Carroll’s fate increased after the body of Tom Fox, an American kidnapped with three other Christian peace campaigners in Baghdad in November, was found earlier this month. Sunni leaders including al-Duleimi called for Carroll’s safe return.

Carroll last appeared in a videotape aired on Jan. 30 appealing for the release of women Iraqi prisoners. Her abductors had threatened to kill her unless female Iraqis held by U.S. and Iraqi forces were released.

Insurgents and criminals have captured 280 foreigners in Iraq since 2003, according to a tally through March 26 this year by the Washington-based Brookings Institution. A total of 141 were released, 46 were killed, six were rescued, three escaped and the fate of 84 is unknown.

Katie Carroll, Jill’s twin sister, appeared on al-Arabiya television yesterday to recount how Jill’s kidnapping affected her family and appealed to the Iraqi people for information that could help free her.

Among the hostages still held in Iraq are German engineers Rene Braeunlich and Thomas Nitzschke. Norman Kember, 74, of Britain and Canadians Harmeet Singh Sooden, 33, and James Loney, 41, who were captured along with Tom Fox, were freed by Multi National Forces on March 23.

Last Updated: March 30, 2006 08:12 EST