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WASHINGTON, April 15, 2008 – Defense Department officials today praised Iraq’s security forces for yesterday’s rescue of CBS journalist Richard Butler, who was kidnapped in February. “The operation showed great initiative and demonstrated the increasing capability of Iraq security forces to take on the terrorists and extremists who are trying to derail the progress in Iraq,” Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell in a news conference here. Butler was kidnapped while on assignment as a cameraman in Basra. The Iraqi soldiers acted on a tip and raided a house outside of Basra where Butler was held. One terrorist was captured. “The...

"I'm just - beside myself," says Barbara Alexander Barbara has been living a nightmare since January 2007. Her son Ronald J. Withrow or Ronnie, now 40, was taken hostage in Iraq while working with a computer company. Barbara longs every day for new information about her son's safety and his whereabouts and Thursday she finally got some, but it wasn't quite the good news she was hoping for. Ronnie's severed finger had been mailed to U.S. authorities in Baghdad. "Whenever you are surprised by news like that, you know, it just sends you way on back. You're just back sided,"...

Organized, well-financed and violent Mexican kidnapping cells are targeting a growing number of U.S. citizens visiting communities popular with San Diegans and other California residents. Advertisement Last year, at least 26 San Diego County residents were kidnapped and held for ransom in Tijuana, Rosarito Beach or Ensenada, local FBI agents overseeing the cases said yesterday.

I don’t mean to pick on David Paul Kuhn. The guy is a very experienced reporter and I’m sure he has excellent political insight. But man. The Hillary “hostage crisis” is not even over for a day, and Mr. Kuhn has already written a piece for The Politico praising New York’s junior senator for seizing the “unexpected opportunity” to “look the part of president.” Good grief. Political journalists are like Pavlov’s Dog when it comes to Hillary. Everything that happens with her, no matter what it is, is reported almost exclusively in the context of whether she handled the situation...

ABC News' Kate Snow reports: ABC News has learned that Leeland Eisenberg -- the man accused of holding hostages at Hillary Clinton's Rochester, N.H., campaign office for six hours on Friday -- allegedly cited one of Clinton's campaign commercials when police say he entered the office and claimed to have a pipe bomb strapped to his chest. According to sources, the campaign office intruder was complaining about insurance issues and mentioned a recent campaign ad widely seen by New Hampshire voters. "She helped that guy, she can help me," Eisenberg allegedly told Clinton campaign staffers, referring to Joe Ward, a...

Questions About Hillary's Handling of Her First First Crisis What did Hillary do to provoke this hostage taker that he would take her people hostage? Why has Hillary lost so much respect among the world's hostage takers? Why was the first response an armed (SWAT) response? Why didn't she use negotiation first--before sending in the troops? She plans to meet with her staff--but, why won't she meet with the hostage taker? Why the delay in going to NH? What took so long for her response?

Nearly a year ago, French-Iranian filmmaker Mehrnoushe Solouki arrived in Tehran to shoot a documentary about the burial rites of Iran's religious minorities. But when she stumbled upon a mass grave of regime opponents summarily executed in 1988, Solouki was suddenly thrown into Tehran's notorious Evin prison. She was released after about a month, but authorities confiscated her French passport, barring her exit from the Islamic Republic. Frightened, she briefly sought refuge in the French Embassy. "Every moment, I feel like I'm in a state of limbo between life and death," Solouki told RFE/RL's Radio Farda in a telephone interview...

Iran hostage crisis, in U.S. history, events following the seizure of the American embassy in Tehran by Iranian students on Nov. 4, 1979. The overthrow of Muhammad Reza Shah Pahlevi of Iran by an Islamic revolutionary government earlier in the year had led to a steady deterioration in Iran-U.S. relations. In response to the exiled shah's admission (Sept., 1979) to the United States for medical treatment, a crowd of about 500 seized the embassy. Of the approximately 90 people inside the embassy, 52 remained in captivity until the end of the crisis.

BAQOUBA, Iraq, Oct. 30, 2007 – A 19-year-old man was rescued from an al Qaeda-in-Iraq prison in the village of Hammadi, 10 miles southwest of Baqouba, by 2nd Squadron, 1st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, during an air assault Oct. 28. The rescued hostage was found tied to a ceiling with his arms raised behind his back, which caused injuries to both arms. The man was treated at Forward Operating Base Warhorse for dehydration, joint injuries, bruises and abrasions. The man was kidnapped on Oct. 25 in Baqouba “at a shop by five men in a...

Fathers Pius Affas and Mazen Ishoa Mosul, Oct 22, 2007 / 10:28 am (CNA).- Two Catholic priests kidnapped more than a week ago in Mosul have been released and are in good health, the Agence France-Presse reports. Fathers Pius Affas and Mazen Ishoa were kidnapped last Saturday after receiving threats from an unknown group.  They were reportedly held for a ransom of one million U.S. dollars, but it is unknown at present whether one was paid.According to the Rome-based missionary agency Middle East Concern, Syro-Catholic Archbishop Basile Georges Casmoussa was in charge of negotiating the release of the priests.Pope...

Taliban use hostage cash to fund UK blitz By Massoud Ansari in Kila Abdullah, Pakistan Last Updated: 12:20am BST 14/10/2007 Millions of dollars handed over to secure the release of South Korean hostages in Afghanistan have been used to buy weapons deployed against British and American forces in the country, the Taliban claims. Killed: Major Alexis Roberts Major Alexis Roberts, 32, Prince William's former platoon commander at Sandhurst, was one of the victims of the Taliban offensive funded by the hostage money. According to Taliban fighters interviewed by The Sunday Telegraph, the money has also been used to train recruits...

(AP) Three American defense contractors kidnapped by Colombian rebels pleaded in an interview for authorities to negotiate their release and not risk a rescue, saying they would likely die in the attempt. The interview by a Colombian journalist was the first since the men were captured after crash-landing their plane in the jungle-covered mountains of southern Colombia in February. “I don't want to die. I don't want anybody dying trying to get me out of here,” Keith Stansell, one of the captives, said in the interview, which was taped in July but will get its first public airing Wednesday when...

A SWAT team has entered a Newington, Conn., synagogue in a stand-off situation. Officers sent a police dog inside shortly before 7:30 a.m. and followed it into Congregation B'nai Sholom on Church Street. Police earlier had used a megaphone to ask the person or people inside to come out, and tossed an unknown object into the building. The initial call was for a possible break-in. Heavily armed officers surrounded the synagogue, and New Britain police were called in to help. Three dirt motorcycles were parked outside the building. A neighbor told WFSB-TV that the motorcycles were stolen from her shed....

S.Korea paid over $20 mln ransom-Taliban By Saeed Ali Achakzai Reuters - Saturday, September 1 11:34 am SPIN BOLDAK (Reuters) - South Korea paid Afghanistan's Taliban more than $20 million (9.9 million pounds) to release 19 missionaries they were holding hostage, a senior insurgent leader said on Saturday, vowing to use the funds to buy arms and mount suicide attacks. The freed hostages flew out of Afghanistan on Friday to Dubai en route for South Korea. Seoul denies paying a ransom, but critics say negotiating with the Taliban sets a dangerous precedent that could spur more kidnappings -- which the...

Taliban free all Korean hostages Critics say Seoul may have set a dangerous precedent by dealing with the Taliban [Reuters] The Taliban's last three South Korean hostages have been handed over to the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) after six weeks in captivity. The man and two women were in a Red Cross vehicle being driven to the town of Ghazni, Irfan Sulejmani, an ICRC official, said late on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the Taliban had released four South Korean hostages. Two men and two women were delivered to ICRC representatives by tribal mediators on a road...

TEHRAN, Aug. 22 — Haleh Esfandiari, the Iranian-American scholar freed on bail after three months in prison, is waiting for Iranian judicial officials to inform her whether the travel ban against her will be lifted and a new passport issued to allow her to return to the United States, her husband and her lawyer said Wednesday. In addition, a judge told the wife of Kian Tajbakhsh, who is also in jail in Iran and who like Ms. Esfandiari has dual nationality, that her husband would not be released from Evin Prison for at least another 10 to 15 days. “He...

Taliban Agree to Free 19 Korean Hostages The Taliban militants holding the 19 Korean hostages agreed with the Korean governemnt to free them, according to a report. Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported Saturday that the agreement came with the mediation of the government of Saudi Arabia. AIP said the governments of Korea and Saudi Arabia will officially announce Sunday the agreement in Ghazni Province where the Taliban kidnapped the Koreans on July 19. Meanwhile, the Korean government didn't confirm the report. Song Min-soon, minister of foreign affairs and trade, left for Saudi Arabia Friday night.

For the last several months, G.I. Joe fans have been voicing their concerns and outrage online over rumors that Paramount may make drastic changes to the franchise when they bring it to the silver screen as a live-action tentpole release. A new report recounting the political and marketing challenges facing a G.I. Joe movie will likely do little to quell their fears. AdAge.com spoke with Hasbro and Paramount execs about the challenges of marketing a film about the U.S. military at a time when the current U.S. administration and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are at a low-point in...

Taliban renews death threats against hostages GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AFP) - Taliban militants who have been holding 19 South Koreans for more than a month renewed a threat Wednesday to kill them if their demands are not met. ADVERTISEMENT A purported rebel spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, said some of the captives were sick and they were also suffering from lack of proper food. "If the demands of the Taliban are not met the Korean hostages face death," Mujahed told AFP in a telephone call from an unknown location. "Although we want this crisis to be solved through negotiations, it seems the US...

A German woman who was kidnapped at gunpoint from a restaurant in the Afghan capital Kabul has been released. Reports say Christina Meier was freed during a police raid on a house on the outskirts of the city, and a number of her suspected abductors were arrested. Earlier, the aid worker was seen in a video released by her captors and broadcast on Afghan TV. A German foreign ministry spokeswoman said the aid worker was now at the German diplomatic mission in Kabul. The BBC's Charles Haviland, in Kabul, says the house that was raided on Sunday night had apparently...

Taliban weigh hostages fate By Sayed Salahuddin in Kabul August 07, 2007 06:10pm TALIBAN leaders are deciding what to do with 21 Korean hostages after Afghan President Hamid Karzai and US President George Bush ruled out making any concessions to free them, one of the kidnappers said on Tuesday. "We know about their comments and will decide what to do next," said a Taliban commander who holds a group of four of the hostages. He said the Taliban leadership would make the decision on the fate of the Christian volunteers. The commander, who declined to be named, said talks were...

Hostage Families Reject Anti-American RalliesThe families of the Korean hostages spoke out against a movement to hold the U.S. responsible for the unresolved crisis, saying anti-American demonstrations could put the hostages' lives at greater risk. The families turned down an offer by some anti-American organizations to stage a candlelight rally. Lee Jeong-hoon, a representative of the families, said on Thursday, "Since an anti-American demonstration could have a negative influence on the negotiations for the release of the hostages, we have made efforts to avoid being involved in any such demonstrations." "An anti-American movement could be what the Taliban want," Lee...

/begin my summary Talibans Moved Three S. Korean Hostages to paktika Province Bordering Pakistan Japan's Asahi Shimbun reported in its afternoon dispatch of Aug. 2 that Talibans moved three female S. Korean hostages from Karabag(sp ?), Ghazni Province, to a location in paktika Province, which is 40 km away, in the afternoon of Aug. 1, quoting a Taliban member who guarded hostages. The Tablian member is the one who guarded four hostages, including Shim Sung-min, who was killed later. During our telephone-interview Jul. 29, Lee Ji-young said she is with two other female hostages, Kim Kyung-ja and Kim Jina,...

Afghan army warns of operation By AMIR SHAH Associated Press Writer Wednesday, August 1, 2007 8:13 PM MDT GHAZNI, Afghanistan (AP) - The Afghan army dropped leaflets Wednesday warning of impending military action in the region where Taliban militants are holding 21 South Korean hostages, though the army said the operation is not connected to the captives. Another deadline passed at noon with no word that any of the hostages had been killed, while the local governor said the Taliban militants had agreed to a face-to-face meeting requested by South Korea's ambassador. Two hostages have already been killed, though several...

(LEAD) Taliban commander reportedly says Korean hostage talks failed, vows to kill captives By Byun Duk-kun SEOUL, July 30 (Yonhap) -- An unidentified commander of the Taliban on Monday said negotiations with the Afghan government for the lives of 22 South Korean hostages have completely failed and that the Taliban militants would start killing the hostages, the Afghan Islamic Press reported. The reported remarks from the purported Taliban commander came after the Afghan government refused to release Taliban prisoners in exchange for the South Korean captives by a 0730 GMT deadline. South Korean officials in Seoul, however, said "various contacts"...

/begin my excerpt S. Korea: Some Hostages on Hunger Strike Al Jazeera reported on 8 o'clock news(S. Korean time?) that some S. Korean hostages are on hunger strike. James Bay, Al Jazeera's Kabul correspondent, said that the hostages are divided into multiple groups and kept separately, and some are on hunger strike, according to an Afghan official who visited one of the groups. According to the official, the hostages are on hunger strike to protest their extended captivity. /end my excerpt

Taliban militants seek $100,000 for call to S. Korean hostages (Kyodo) _ Taliban kidnappers in Afghanistan have demanded $100,000 from the South Korean government in return for direct contact with 23 South Korean abductees, an Afghan official said Tuesday. "The Taliban, in a contact to us (Tuesday), asked for $100,000 in return for a direct phone contact between the (South) Korean delegation and the (South) Korean abductees," said Khowaja Ahmad Sedeqi, a member of an Afghan delegation mediating between the Taliban and South Korean officials. He also said the kidnappers have asked for the same amount of money if the...

Captors of BBC journalist make chilling threat Sakher Abu El Oun | Gaza City, Gaza Strip 26 June 2007 06:37 The Palestinian extremists claiming to hold BBC journalist Alan Johnston on Tuesday issued a chilling threat to slaughter him "like a lamb" unless Britain and Jordan release Muslim prisoners. In a statement emailed to Agence France-Presse, the Army of Islam demanded the release of an Iraqi woman, Sajida al-Rishawi, who has been sentenced to death in Jordan over triple hotel attacks in Amman that killed 60 people in November 2005. It also demanded the release of Abu Mohammed al-Maqdissi --...

PARIS (Reuters) - A French aid worker freed by the Taliban returned home on Saturday and Paris pledged to seek the release of three Afghan colleagues still held by the rebel group. The Taliban, who had threatened to kill Eric Damfreville of the children's aid group Terre d'Enfance, want France to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan and release Taliban prisoners held by the Afghan government. "Nicolas Sarkozy hopes for the rapid release of the remaining hostages. He will put everything in place to this end," a statement from France's president-elect said. After 38 days in captivity, blindfolded and chained, Damfreville...

Finding a Life03:55 Added: 1 day ago Views: 41

GUTSY Faye Turney turned the tables on Iranian tyrant Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he freed her in front of TV cameras — making him SQUIRM. She was the first of the 15 hostages ushered forward during the cynical stunt in the madman’s own Tehran palace garden. As Faye stood in front of bearded Ahmadinejad he asked her through a translator: “How is your daughter?” Faye fumed in response: “I don’t know, Mr President, I haven’t seen her for 13 days — remember?”

Conservative parliamentarian Amir Hassankhani, a former member of the country's Revolutionary Guard and supporter of the president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, told the country's semi-official Fars news agency: "The arrest and release of the British sailors proved that if Iran's issues and demands are overlooked at the international level, the Islamic republic can create different challenges for the other side."

Buoyant Teheran warns of further kidnappings By Gethin Chamberlain, Philip Sherwell and Tim Shipman, Sunday Telegraph Last Updated: 11:56pm BST 07/04/2007 Hardliners in the Iranian regime have warned that the seizure of British naval personnel demonstrates that they can make trouble for the West whenever they want to and do so with impunity. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad: a PR bounce The bullish reaction from Teheran will reinforce the fears of western diplomats and military officials that more kidnap attempts may be planned. The British handling of the crisis has been regarded with some concern in Washington, and a Pentagon defence official...

LONDON: The female British sailor captured and held by Iran for 13 days has told how her captors stripped her to her underpants and threatened that she might never see her baby again.She also told how she was measured one day after hearing wood being sawn and nails hammered, sparking fears she was being measured for a coffin.After the Ministry of Defence controversially relaxed its ban on service personnel striking financial deals with media organisations at the weekend, Faye Turney, 26, told The Sun her interrogators had taunted her with threats to her life."At one stage … [the interrogator] asked...

Commenter FormerHostage wrote a response to my question. Given his first hand experience of the 444 days Americans were held hostage by Iranian radicals from November 4th, 1979, to January 20th, 1981, I think everyone should give this a read: As my screenname indicates, I can speak with Complete Moral Authority (tm) on this issue. On the day of the takeover, the Marines were outnumbered at least 1000 to 1. We held the consulate and the communications vault for over 12 hours, helping to destroy equipment and classified material. We were under STRICT orders not to fire our weapons or...

Sailors To Speak Of Ordeal Updated: 12:07, Friday April 06, 2007 The British sailors and marines freed by Iran are preparing to give their own version of their capture in the northern Gulf. They are also expected to speak about their 13 days in captivity and 'confessions' on Iranian TV. Watch the news conference featuring the captured Navy personnel at 3pm here on Sky News Online. The 15 service personnel have been praised by the head of the Navy, Admiral Sir Jonathon Band. The First Sea Lord said they behaved with "considerable dignity and a lot of courage" during their...

I often fear that the vast ignorance of Americans and others around the world concerning the history of Islam condemns them to be pawns in the hands of the Iranians and other Muslim leaders who reflect why Islam came to be and how it has conducted itself since the death of Muhammad. The recent “incident” in which 15 British sailors were taken hostage by the Iranians (and you can substitute any radical Islamic group such as Hamas, Hezbollah, or al Qaeda committing other similar acts) and the subsequent “diplomatic” effort totally ignores the fact that these same Iranians took American...

Iranian President Mahmood Ahmadinejad has said his country will free the 15 British sailors and marines taken captive. He was speaking after awarding medals to the "brave" border guards who detained the Britons. He made the presentation at a press conference in the capital Tehran. "I would like to thank the Iranian coast guard for courgeously defending our Iranian territorial waters," he said. He then pinned medals on the chests of three Coast Guard officers. The controversial leader said he was "saddened" that Britain had violated Iranian waters.

Wednesday's protest - further info As previously mentioned our second demonstration is happening this Wednesday. Below is some more detailed information about the location and how to get there. We will be demonstrating opposite the Iranian embassy (map). The embassy overlooks Hyde Park near the junction of Prince's Gate and Kensington Road, and our protest will be on the opposite the embassy on Kensington Road (i.e. the Hyde Park side). The nearest tube stations are South Kensington and Knightsbridge. Prince's Gate is effectively the top part of Exhibition Road, so from South Ken tube follow the signs towards the Science...

In the aftermath of media rush to describe the details of the "crime's location," it is simply forgotten that Iran's behavior is what really counts. Had the dingy - or a bigger ship - entered Kuwaiti waters by error, the principality navy would have alerted the British unit as to its current location and asked them if they needed help to correct their sailing. Saudi, Qatari and other Emirates vessels would have offered water to the UK patrol, had they requested. In worse conditions, a regime which is bragging about the "dialogue of civilizations," that is the Ahmadinejad elite, should...

Report: North Korea Diplomats Defy Orders to Send Children Home Tuesday , April 03, 2007 SEOUL, South Korea — North Korean diplomats and officials stationed overseas have refused a recent government order to send their children home, a news report said Tuesday, marking an unprecedented backlash against the communist leadership. About 4,000 children were supposed to return home by the end of last month, South Korea 's Yonhap news agency reported, citing an unnamed person well-versed in North Korean affairs. The North has delayed the deadline by a month. Each official was allowed to keep one child at their overseas...

"The Independent leads on an exclusive report about how a failed US raid on Iranian security officials led to the hostage crisis."

New footage of two of the 15 captured British service personnel has been shown on Iranian TV - during which one apologised for their "intrusion". One of the pair, who gave his name as Lieutenant Felix Carman, said: "I would like to say to the Iranian people: 'I can understand why you are so angry about our intrusion into your waters'." The other man, named as Royal Marine Captain Chris Air, said: "So far we have been treated very well by all the people here. "They have looked after us and made sure we are given enough food and treated...

Europe has failed us in the Iran crisis Labour's Margaret Beckett is getting it right. It's our EU allies who are letting us down Malcolm Rifkind Sunday April 1, 2007 The Observer The Iranians are a sophisticated and sensitive people. From time to time, however, they do something dumb. The seizure of 15 British sailors and Royal Marines was one such example. Parading them on television and requiring them to mouth unconvincing apologies was another. These events have not happened by accident. For some time the more radical elements in the Iranian government have been trying to find a way...

Sailor Seizure 'Inexcusable' Updated: 22:33, Saturday March 31, 2007 Iran's seizure of 15 Royal Navy personnel has been described as "inexcusable behaviour" by US President George Bush. In his first comments on the crisis, Mr Bush said he supported Britain's diplomatic efforts to get the captives back. He said: "Iran must give back the hostages. They're innocent, they did nothing wrong, and they were summarily plucked out of water."

WASHINGTON (AP) - Members of the House left Washington on Friday for their two-week spring break without weighing in on the international crisis tormenting the nation's closest ally: the capture of 15 British sailors and marines by Iran. The omission by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is being noted by some Republicans, who say they should have gotten the chance to join the Senate in denouncing Tehran's bold actions. "I am very disappointed that the speaker chose not to act," said Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pa. "I believe it's important for us as Americans to show our solidarity with the Britons,"...

UN Iran statement voices concern The UN Security Council has adopted a watered-down statement on the capture of 15 Royal Navy personnel by Iran. The statement expresses "grave concern" over the detention of the sailors and marines after they were seized in the northern Gulf on Friday. It also calls on Tehran to allow the UK consular access to the personnel. Meanwhile, Iran has released a second letter apparently written by captured Leading Seaman Faye Turney which urges the UK to withdraw from Iraq.

New Iran Captive Letter Updated: 18:56, Thursday March 29, 2007 Iran has published another letter allegedly written by Leading Seaman Faye Turney in which she supposedly calls for British forces to withdraw from Iraq. The letter also asks the British Government why it allowed the British captives to stray into Iranian waters. And it goes on to say the group is being treated well by the Iranians. Analysts immediately doubted the validity of the letter, saying the wording was not likely to have been thought up by the 26-year-old sailor. The letter coincided with the release of new footage of...

In November 1979, the US Embassy in Iran was seized by militant students representing the new Muslim fundamentalist Iranian regime headed by the Ayatollah Khomeini. Under President Jimmy Carter’s continuing and hopeless lack of leadership, the Iranian hostage crisis lasted until the day President Ronald Reagan took his first Oath of Office on 20 January 1981. On that day, nd only a few minutes after President Reagan was sworn in as President of the United States, Iran announced its formal release of the US hostages. Prior to his election, President Reagan had vowed to gain the release of the still...

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) - Iran's foreign minister says Britain must admit that its 15 sailors and marines entered Iranian waters for the standoff to be resolved.