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You could almost hear the incredulous victory shouts from Pyrmont HQ blowing all the way south of the border through Melbourne's wintry streets. Somehow, Channel Ten had outmanoeuvred and, more crucially, outbid its heavyweight commercial rivals and nailed the story of the year: an exclusive interview with the man now commonly known as the Freed Iraq Hostage Douglas Wood. The promos started rolling through Big Brother's live nominations on Monday night, which was unnervingly apt given we had all become bit players in this bloke's life, tuning in day after day to find out whether it was time for Douglas...

Douglas Wood's Iraqi captors forced their hostages to watch the executions of fellow prisoners, a released hostage has revealed. Swedish oil trader Ulf Hjertstrom, 63, told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet that he was held captive in Iraq for 67 days, spending about about a month of that time in the same house as Mr Wood. Aftonbladet night editor Sverker Laestadius told theage.com.au that Mr Hjertstrom revealed he had been forced to watch "eight or nine'' executions. "They made him watch while they shot them, then after a while they took the bodies away,'' Mr Laestadius said. Mr Hjertstrom could not confirm...

The hero of the day is now a product being ripened by a platoon of PR agents, managers, stylists and personal trainers. There's a buck to be made with this boy. Not that Douglas Wood doesn't understand how to trot out a volley of cliches all on his own: "It's great to be an Australian … God bless America … Any chance of a VB? … It's bloody good to be home … How are the Cats going? … Waltzing Matilda." Not bad for a guy who's lived away from his proud homeland for 25 years. The Geelong Football Club...

Editorial: Douglas Wood tells it straight June 21, 2005 TO the objective observer there would seem to be only good news surrounding the circumstances of Douglas Wood's release from captivity. But this has not stopped people who cannot stand anything positive coming out of Iraq from finding the dark cloud inside the silver lining. According to those who conform to David Marr's "soft-leftie" stipulation for working in the Australian media, Mr Wood could have been released much earlier but for tactical mistakes by the Australian taskforce. John Howard, they say, has exploited Mr Wood's predicament for political gain. And anyway,...

TWO Iraqi hostages captured with Douglas Wood were murdered in mid-May. The revelation raises serious questions about why the Mufti of Australia, Sheik Taj el-Din el-Hilaly, accused Iraqi forces of risking their lives during the Wood rescue mission. The men, Faris Shakir and Adel Farhaway Najm, were shot and hanged after being tortured, and their bodies dumped at a rubbish tip. The bodies were held by police until identified by their families on Friday, and immediately buried. But Sheik el-Hilaly yesterday continued to insist he was worried about them. "He's quite concerned for those other two people, people who were...

DOUGLAS Wood could be killed if he returned to Iraq after calling his captors "arseholes", a spokesman for the Mufti of Australia says. Mr Wood, 63, arrived in Australia yesterday after spending 47 days as a hostage in the war-torn country, but has indicated he may go back for business reasons. But Keysar Trad, a spokesman for Australian Mufti Sheikh Taj al-Din al-Hilaly, said he would be very afraid for Mr Wood's life if he returned to Iraq. "I would be very concerned for his safety, especially after the comments that he's made yesterday with the negative references he's made...

TO the objective observer there would seem to be only good news surrounding the circumstances of Douglas Wood's release from captivity. But this has not stopped people who cannot stand anything positive coming out of Iraq from finding the dark cloud inside the silver lining. According to those who conform to David Marr's "soft-leftie" stipulation for working in the Australian media, Mr Wood could have been released much earlier but for tactical mistakes by the Australian taskforce. John Howard, they say, has exploited Mr Wood's predicament for political gain. And anyway, wasn't Mr Wood just a mercenary in Iraq who...

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) - An Australian engineer from California dramatically rescued from insurgents in Baghdad last week arrived back in his native country Monday and apologized for his televised plea for coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq. The world discovered Douglas Wood had been abducted when his captors released a DVD through Arabic television May 1 showing him with automatic weapons pointed at his head as he pleaded for troops to pull out of Iraq. But at his first media conference since being freed, the 64-year-old resident of Alamo, Calif., said he supported the coalition forces' role in Iraq. "Frankly...

Freed Iraq Hostage Now Supports Coalition By ROD McGUIRK, Associated Press Writer 57 minutes ago MELBOURNE, Australia - An Australian engineer held hostage in Iraq for nearly seven weeks arrived in his home country Monday and apologized for his televised plea for coalition forces to withdraw from Iraq. Douglas Wood, 64, who lives in Alamo, Calif., told reporters at Melbourne's airport he supported the coalition forces' role in Iraq. ADVERTISEMENT "Frankly I'd like to apologize to both President Bush and Prime Minister (John) Howard for the things I said under duress," said Wood, with his American wife Yvonne Given and...

FREED Australian hostage Douglas Wood ysterday apologised to the Australian and US governments for his plea for troops to be withdrawn from Iraq, saying it was made under duress. Meanwhile, despite his 47-day ordeal, the Australian engineer says he may return to Iraq to pursue business opportunities, despite his family's pleas not to. Mr Wood, 63, arrived in Melbourne yesterday, less than a week after being freed in Baghdad by Iraqi and US troops. It was "bloody good" to be home, said the jovial Australian, who entered a packed press conference singing Waltzing Matilda. But he also revealed his anger...

An Australian engineer held hostage in Iraq until he was rescued last week has apologized to the U.S. and Australian governments for calling at gunpoint for foreign troops to leave the country. Douglas Wood, who was held by terrorists for 47 days, told a press conference on his arrival in Australia Monday that the comments had been made under duress. The fact that he was rescued by members the new Iraqi army demonstrated the correctness of U.S. and Australian policies in Iraq, which he supported, he said. Iraqi troops found Wood hidden under a blanket during an armed raid on...

CNN -- The Australian hostage held captive for nearly seven weeks in Iraq before being freed last week has said his rescue by Iraqi troops is a sign that U.S. and Australian policies are working. "I actually believe that I am proof positive that the current policy of training the Iraqi army -- of recruiting, training and buddying them worked -- because it was the Iraqis that got me out," Douglas Wood told reporters in Melbourne after returning to Australia Monday morning. The 64-year-old engineer also apologized to U.S. President George W. Bush and Australian Prime Minister John Howard for...

PRIME Minister John Howard has denied there was a botched attempt by Australians to rescue hostage Douglas Wood from captivity just 10 days after he was taken. Mr Wood, who this morning arrived back in Australia after being held hostage for 47 days in Iraq, said he was moved from one house to another about 10 days into his captivity. But Mr Howard said no Australian was involved in any failed attempt to rescue Mr Wood. "At no stage did our people do anything inappropriate," he told ABC radio. "I can also deny explicitly the proposition that in some way...

DOUGLAS Wood said this morning it was "bloody good" to be home after arriving in Melbourne to be reunited with his family after spending 47 days in captivity as a hostage in Iraq. The engineer said he had some physical ailments after the ordeal but was not feeling "especially" fragile. There were times he said he believed he would be killed while he was being held by his captors, who he emphatically described as "a...holes". His way of getting through it, he said, was to "keep laughing". Mr Wood avoided speaking in detail about his time in captivity during a...

DOUGLAS Wood said this morning it was "bloody good" to be home after arriving in Melbourne to be reunited with his family after spending 47 days in captivity as a hostage in Iraq. The engineer said he had some physical ailments after the ordeal but was not feeling "especially" fragile. He said it was tough readjusting after his hostage ordeal "but we'll get there". He avoided speaking in detail about his time in captivity during a news conference which he entered humming Waltzing Matilda. Mr Wood said he apologised to Prime Minister John Howard and US President George W. Bush...

DOUGLAS Wood has told how he expected to die after two hostages held with him were executed during his 47 days of captivity. Mr Wood, 63, was yesterday reunited with wife Yvonne Given and celebrated his freedom with a steak and mashed potatoes, washed down with six cans of VB. Australian officials debriefing him at a secret location in Dubai said his mental state was "very good" despite clearly recalling the trauma of each day in captivity. "He's a real character. He's a larger-than-life figure," the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's deputy secretary, Nick Warner, said. Mr Warner headed...

FORMER hostage Douglas Wood would fly into Melbourne from Dubai tomorrow morning, his brother said today. Vernon Wood said the family was "looking forward to having him home safe and sound". However, he said he had no idea how long Mr Wood, who would be accompanied by his American wife, would stay. He said he hoped a meeting would take place between Douglas Wood and Prime Minister John Howard. "We'd like to get Doug to meet with Prime Minister Howard and (Foreign Minister) Alexander Downer as soon as possible," he said. Reading a written statement to reporters, Vernon Wood said:...

CANBERRA, Australia - An Australian engineer from California who was dramatically rescued in Baghdad last week after being held hostage for six weeks would have been released without military intervention, Australia's most senior Muslim cleric insisted Sunday. Iraqi and U.S. troops freed Douglas Wood, a 64-year-old resident of Alamo, California, early on July 15 from a Baghdad house where insurgents were holding him for ransom. Sheik Taj El Din al-Hilaly, an Egyptian-born Sunni cleric who flew from his Sydney home within days of the April 30 abduction to negotiate a release, said Wood was to have been released the day...

Douglas Wood's liberation is a setback to the callous hearts behind the scourge of hostage-taking in Iraq, writes Tony Parkinson. No ransom was paid. No troops were withdrawn. Douglas Wood was liberated from his captors without any concessions to terror or extortion. This is as it should be: nobody should have to barter for the life of an innocent man. The liberation of the 63-year-old Australian after 47 days under threat of death is a setback to the callous hearts behind the scourge of hostage-taking in Iraq. This time, they were rewarded with neither blood, nor money, nor psychic thrill....

DOUGLAS Wood sounds like a terrific fellow. Dry sense of humour. Fondness for VB. More interested in his precious Geelong footy club than recounting his traumatic misadventures in Baghdad. There's surely a lot more to this blessed rogue -- who, despite not visiting these shores since 1993, sounds quintessentially Australian - than the emerging picture. It's doubtful a beer and a glance at the AFL ladder can salve the scars of a terrifying kidnapping. Yet one thing is beyond question: Mr Wood has been tremendously well served by his next of kin. The Wood clan ended this saga as they...