Free Republic

Romanians freed in Iraq after two months ALEXANDRU ALEXE /Associated Press May. 22, 2005 BUCHAREST, Romania - Three Romanian journalists and their Iraqi-American guide were freed Sunday after nearly two months in captivity in Iraq, the president's office said. All four were in the custody of Romanian authorities, officials said, ending a kidnapping that had sparked rallies and prayer vigils in Romania, which has 800 troops in Iraq. "They are unharmed and we will announce to the public when they will return to the country," said Adriana Saftoiu, a spokeswoman for Romanian President Traian Basescu. The three Romanians - newspaper...

Lawyers for an American citizen facing execution in Iraq appealed Friday in U.S. federal court to keep the man in American custody — preventing his death — while another case is being appealed. The citizen, Mohammad Munaf, was convicted and sentenced to death by an Iraqi judge earlier this week on charges he helped in the 2005 kidnapping of three Romanian journalists in Baghdad, court papers show. Iraqi-born Munaf, a naturalized U.S. citizen since 2000, was working as their translator and guide. He maintains his innocence. In an emergency request filed Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, Munaf's attorneys...

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) A Romanian court issued arrest warrants Friday in the kidnappings of three journalists in Iraq, saying the abductions were plotted by the Iraqi-American guide who claimed to be a victim and the businessman who claimed to be negotiating their release. The three journalists returned to Romania on Monday after 55 days in captivity. Prosecutors said testimony from nine people arrested in Baghdad led them to seek terrorism charges against Mohammed Monaf, the journalists' guide, and Monaf's business partner, Omar Hayssam. Monaf, charged in absentia, was reported to have been held with the journalists and was seen with...