TWO ITALIAN AID WORKERS FREED! JUST BREAKING

Al JIHAD zeera ^ | 9/28/04

[areafiftyone]

Two Italian Aid Workers who have been held captive in Iraq freed. No story yet.

[Poohbah]

They might be wearing gloves. A bomb's more sure.

[rudypoot]

The only reason they let them go is because Zarqawi doesn't have enough money to pay for them...

[Conservative4Ever]

Oh thank God....what a wonderful thing.

Red

[cyn]

http://www.islamonline.net/English/News/2004-09/28/article06.shtml

[Tamzee]

Excellent point. "Sure" is better.

[Grzegorz 246]

:-)

[TexKat]

From left, Simona Pari, Simona Torretta, her sister Laura Torretta, and her mother Annamaria Torretta are greeted by Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi upon their arrival at Rome's Ciampino military airport, late Tuesday night, Sept. 28, 2004. Simona and Simona were kidnapped in Baghdad Sept. 7, along with two Iraqi aid workers. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

Simona Pari, left, and Simona Torretta smile upon their arrival at Rome's Ciampino military airport, late Tuesday night, Sept. 28, 2004. The Italians were kidnapped in Baghdad Sept. 7, along with two Iraqi aid workers. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

[prairiebreeze]

Well, thanks be to God they're free. Interesting that they were reported sold as slaves last week.

Prairie

[alexandria]

Umm sorry, I don't buy it. They look WAY TOO healthy and well rested. With all the others even before the final beheading they look as if they cannot bear to stand they are so exhausted, not to mention the gaunt look of not enough food fit to eat.

[TAquinas]

"these two women from what I was told and read, were liberal supporters of the islamists. opponents of the war on terror, and rather vocal about it."

I agree. The name of their organization, Un Ponte Per..., the reasons they went to Baghdad accompanied by two Iraqis, their organization banner colors and inscription all indicate they are leftists. I agree.

"I have no reason to believe they were anything other than collaborators who helped raise money for their islamist "captors"."

I disagree. I think they genuinely, although misguided, went to Baghdad because of their leftist, pro islamist leaning ideology. That they became collaborators after the kidnapping is also a remote possibility, although possible given their leftist, hand-in-my-heart pro islamist and against the war.

"See how they come out publicly later.
if they praise the plight of their islamist captors, and talk about the muslims being the real victims... we will KNOW this is what was going on."

One could say that the garments they were wearing upon their release were forced on them. However, immediately upon their release they could have asked for non-muslim garments and not hesitate to uncover their faces when queried by journalists. This behavior induces me to believe that you're right in the above assessment.

"but I am glad they were released. NOW let's see how helpful they are in identifying their captors."

On humanitarian ground, so am I. On politican grounds I'm afraid their progressive group, and various other assorted leftist groups like theirs, will gain relevance not just in Europe, but the rest of the world as well. For this latter reason I wished they had never gone to Iraq.

We should all rejoice at their being freed, but condemn their actions and political views - past, present and those yet to come.

[jaykay]

Sure, the absolute best way to get somebody to stop doing something is give them a million dollars when they do it.

Well, maybe if they put a little something extra in the suitcase with the million $

[jaykay]

And maybe we can slip a GPS tracker with the ransom.

It's a good idea too, but I was hoping for something a little different

[OXENinFLA]

REUTERS

Italy rejoiced in the women's freedom on Wednesday, but there were reports a substantial ransom had been paid.

Gustavo Selva, an Italian lawmaker, told French radio a ransom of around $1 million (550,000 pounds) -- a sum already mentioned in Arabic media reports in recent days -- had been handed over.

"In principle, we shouldn't give in to blackmail but this time we had to. Although it's a dangerous path to take because, obviously, it could encourage others to take hostages, either for political reasons or for criminal reasons," Selva told RTL.

"The sum is probably correct," he added.

---

If this is true, bad move IMO. They just put more people in danger.

[claudiustg]

---"There were times when we feared we'd be killed," Ms Torretta said. "But at other times we laughed together.

"Our faith helped us a lot, along with interior strength, because you must give yourself strength on your own."

She described how the captors came to apologise to the women as they were about to release them.

"Religious people who taught us the principles of Islam in the end came to apologise and ask forgiveness," Ms Torretta said.

The captors even gave them a box of sweets for the journey, she said.

"We have learnt about this great solidarity by the Iraqi people, which is like a vote of thanks for all the work we have done over these years," Ms Torretta said.

"Now I have to stay with my family, because we did not know anything about what was happening here. We were very surprised by all this solidarity."

Maurizio Scelli of the Italian Red Cross was present when the women were handed over on Tuesday.

He told journalists the dresses the two women were wearing at the time came from their captors.---

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3699982.stm

[TAquinas]

Not surprised.

Two brainwashed, leftist imbecils.

Expect this two idiots to go back to their captor islamist friends soon.