Posted on 05/15/2005 9:37:18 AM PDT by Dog
BAGHDAD - Insurgents have freed the governor of Iraq’s rebellious Anbar province after kidnapping him last week, an Interior Ministry official said on Sunday.
Raja Nawaf had been abducted with four bodyguards on the road from the town of Qaim near the Syrian border to the rebel stronghold of Ramadi by followers of Al Qaeda leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, after a dispute with the governor’s tribe, relatives had said.
Anbar province is the heartland of Iraq’s insurgency.
On Saturday, American troops ended Operation Matador, a week -long offensive in northwest Anbar aimed at rooting out guerrillas and foreign militants.
The US military said it lost nine troops and killed 125 guerrillas.
I don't quite see it that way - These thugs al Qeade are killing scores of innocent people all across Iraq - Allowing this two-bit Governor to live (after we call an end to the operation) speaks volumes about "this Governor" not al Qeade.
And you can bet your bottom dollar he is under surveillance 24-7 now (we'll know every conversation he has over the next month).
As for the notion it wasn't "our Marines" in there fighting at that particular time within the city (ahh, I can't buy that, fact is, that high up the command doesn't exactly know whether forward units were still engaged or not)
Thanks...wasn't there a note about some tribe negotiating for him?
This is very interesting....
I wonder how much $ they paid the kidnappers.
The governor's cousin, Safi Jalal, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the captive had been freed.
"He was released and he is currently in the (village) of Obeidi," he said. "People celebrated by firing shots in the air."
An official at Iraq's Ministry of Provincial Affairs, Ahmed Hadi, confirmed that al-Mahalawi was released early Sunday, but he declined to provide any details. The governor's cousin said he was released without conditions.
http://kutv.com/topstories/topstories_story_135120930.html
From the link..
They also offered to exchange the governor for three followers of Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who they said were seized in the U.S. offensive, according to the family.
Mighty nice of them telling the three are important....:-)
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Gov. Raja Nawaf Farhan al-Mahalawi was kidnapped Tuesday as he drove from Qaim to the provincial capital of Ramadi. The kidnappers later called his family and said they were holding the governor until U.S. forces pull out of Qaim, a Syrian border town about 200 miles west of Baghdad.
They also offered to exchange the governor for three followers of Iraq's most-wanted terrorist, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who they said were seized in the U.S. offensive, according to the family.
The governor's cousin, Safi Jalal, told The Associated Press on Sunday that the captive had been freed.br>
"He was released and he is currently in the (village) of Obeidi," he said. "People celebrated by firing shots in the air."
An official at Iraq's Ministry of Provincial Affairs, Ahmed Hadi, confirmed that al-Mahalawi was released early Sunday, but he declined to provide any details. The governor's cousin said he was released without conditions.
But we didn't release them, right?
Of course there is. But people want to feel a USA chant moment. The guy made a deal. This is the middle east.
Of course there is.
Since the operation has been announced as officially ended, Zark will claim he released the governor because he was victorious and the Americans left.
I doubt we released them.
He was released without conditions, I guess they changed their minds about the whole "yall pull out and then we will let him go" thing...
Why would they cave I wonder. Got their A$$es kicked?
Its beautiful to see them unraveling, and at a faster pace.
A bit of speculation here......but buried in some of the reports on the fighting there is indication that the locals are not happy about the uninvited guests and are fighting with them,.,,,
So I wonder if a tribe said to the imported insurgents....let him go or we will take up arms and fight you instead of the Americans....
Another hint here:
Daily Terrorist Round-up 5/15/05 (al-Libbi was turned in by the Uzbeks)
we have:
The BBC's Jim Muir, in Baghdad, says the operation appears to have exacerbated tribal tensions in the area, with clashes reported in the nearby town of al-Qaim
Now if they would only let the other hostages go. We have seem to forgotten about them.
Sheesh... the demands were that we leave the area, as we have pretty much done. Our Op was complete, so we left. That's about all there is to this.
Errr, no. More likely a huge ransom was paid, subsidized by your tax dollars.
I agree, that's just what I was thinking. This is a very key area being on the border with Syria. al Q may not have wanted to PO the locals.
They kidnapped this guy, didn't get what they wanted for him, and decided it was better to let him go than get in a blood feud with the West Elbonian Tribe across their main supply lines.
One of those 'we may never know' things, but funny how some folks want to assume the worst.
Take out the foreigners, and get half the Sunnis to come to the table...that leaves the most radical leftovers even more isolated.(and vulnerable) Divide and Conquer.
"I doubt we released them."
Even if we had, they'd be dead soon, since everyone has reported that they talked.
" Its beautiful to see them unraveling, and at a faster pace."
24/7 operations in the whole upper portion of Al Anbar continue. Tis that simple. Fresh HUMIT, aerial/ground recon go on around the clock. Marines continue to pull SASO cordon and search raids in the dozens of towns from Jordan to east of the Euphrates river, northerly to Syrian border.
A long term "mop up" is essentially in place. Lots of snakes hid or made it back to the Syrian border alive and went home,or sit in some dirty stinky building wondering what the hell is going on. Meanwhile, our Marines and Army continue to train new groups of Iraqis in civil police, security police, regular army, and sops army to take over down the pike. The Iraq para-military units (who have shown how tough they really can be) continue to take out scum bags in the TOD and ST, working closer with our Army and Marine units.
In the far western front, our L/MSM continue to try to regroup out of their paralysed state to render more harm to the war/SASO effort.
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